Second Chances - Tales of Remnant
by enlightened-crayon
Summary: RWBY. A wonderful fairy tale, lovely epic characters, terrifying monsters and everlasting racism and geopolitical #. Would someone explain me how in earth I ended in Remnant? Now that I am here, I might as well try to help. But not everyone wants aid. Rated M for mild swearing & other f-words. [Spoiler!, warning tag] Both happy and very sad things will happen. Read at own risk. AU
1. 1 - Liftoff

Second Chances - Tales of Remnant

1 - Liftoff

It was a Sunday evening. A faint breeze of fall made its way through the park as I walked along a pond and noticed something shining.  
The wind wiped a few golden leaves off the ground and then I saw it.

I was so happy. I am by no means a coin or medallion collector in any fashion, but everyone knew about the Apollo medallions. They were ...not even one in a million but super mega rare. My love for spaceflight and coins was flaring up and...(yeah, I lied, I do collect coins,...don't judge me) I didn't notice the dark clouds forming above the city.

I sat down on a bench to admire the work of art in my hands.

 _...Sending out your army,  
but you still can't win;_  
 _Listen up, silly boy,  
'cuz I'm gonna tell you why..._

The music was still blaring out of my earphones, I realized it was way too loud to be healthy.  
I just left them fall onto my shoulders instead of lowering the volume. That was so not-me, but I guess I was still enthralled by the coin.

 _Reign supreme?_  
 _in your dreams you'll never make me bow  
kick my ass?_  
 _I'm world class and super saiyan now_

When did we stop venturing the unknown?  
Why was the moon not a priority anymore? It was depressing. They were investing all the resources into all but the important things.  
The people and research.  
But well, you could dream, right? Maybe my generation would still be able to see the stars again, to reach for the unknown and embrace it.

 _Shit will never be the same;_  
 _Feel the fury of my flame._  
 _Beg for mercy: it won't help;_  
 _Embrace the ending you were dealt_

Maybe I should go to the police and ask if someone misses a medallion. It was the least I could do, no matter how much I liked this coin.

 _I burn!_  
 _Can't hold me now,_  
 _You got nothing that can stop me_

I stood up from the bench and as I was about to take my first step, a loud roar and a blinding light startled me and the coin slipped off my hand. A lightning had struck the pond or one of the trees around it, but nothing seemed burnt at least. All of this happened in just an instant. Then I noticed the lack of weight in my hand and my eyes darted up to the coin, still flying and making an arc towards the pond.

With a simple 'splash!' the coin was gone. It landed about an arm's length away from the border, so I decided it was worth to try and recover it.  
I stopped the music as I now could hear it again, the thunder must have left me pretty deaf for a minute, and the music was still going on. I turned it off and I stowed the earphones away. I packed both my mobile phone and earphones into the suitcase and put my jacket on top of it. I laid both neatly on the ground beside me.  
I shouldn't risk falling into the pond with all of my belongings.

Opening my right sleeve, I rolled it up and kneeled on the edge of the pond.

Just before I touched the water I wondered about the lightning... Nah, water can't store an electric current indefinitely, right?  
Right?  
Well here goes nothing.  
I buried my hand into the water and stretched my fingers but I couldn't feel anything besides algae.  
What the hell, I thought and laid down on the grass, I could wash my shirt anytime later.

I lunged forward with my arm and after the mud settled, something shiny glanced at me,  
just a little too far away of my reach.

With my face almost touching the water and half of my body suspended over the pond just by stubbornness and strong back muscles, I managed to get a hold on the coin. But I couldn't pull it out.  
It was stuck in the mud.  
I tried again, and this time, I lost my hold on the edge of the pond and fell inside, my suitcase and jacket following as well.

It was a shallow pond but as I looked up, it seemed as I was worlds away from the surface.  
I've never been this deep.  
The suitcase and jacket were floating down towards me when I noticed the flash. The same I had seen minutes before.  
 ** _a lightning_**  
It all happened within a heartbeat but it seemed somehow longer.  
I hoped it would strike a tree but somehow it broke through the surface of the pond and wriggled with an astounding speed towards the bottom, where _**I**_ was lying.  
Why would a lightning...? ..And I looked down to the palm of my hand. The silver coin in my hand.  
In a body full of water. I was about to become a most certainly fried man. I closed my eyes.

But it didn't hurt.  
I don't even know what happened. Or if anything happened. But after the blinding flash was gone and the thunder resonated through the water, I opened my eyes.  
It was the same dark sky as before but it was already night.

I grabbed my jacket and suitcase which were at the bottom, buried in the mud.  
Not letting the coin out of my grip, no matter what, I swam up and got to the edge of the pond.

I dragged myself out of the water and I pulled my drenched leather jacket and suitcase with me.  
All my belongings were probably effed up, so I tried to open my suitcase, to try and dry them.  
In vain.  
I couldn't manage to open it. It was like wrestling against magnets.  
Giving up, I looked around me and other than the missing bench, everything seemed the same.  
Not counting the sudden snow in the park. How long was I scuba diving?  
Did I hit my head at some point?  
Besides, any dive longer than a few minutes without air meant sure death.  
Judging by the amount of snow lying around I must have been a whole month in the pond.

I missed also the city lights. It was rather nice and quiet and I had always liked this kind of solitude, but it was a rare occurrence for a city, big as this, to experience a complete blackout.

Looking down onto the palm of my hand, I took a look at the retrieved coin.  
I was about to speak to the coin and say it better be worth it, but I corrected myself.  
Of course was it worth the small dive I took.  
I wondered, it was a lot heavier out of the water.  
It was getting heavier by the minute. I must be exhausted.  
Soaked and slightly disoriented, I looked around.  
Behind the pond was a burning tree. The lightning must have struck it as well.  
Even if I walked back home, it would take an hour to get there, so I instinctively sat down and let the embers and lingering flames warm my body and dry my clothing.

As the numbness was receding and my body got warmer, I noticed some crows watching the scene from their branches, or rather theater loge boxes. Yes, a tragic opera unfolded infront of their unknowing eyes.  
Myself, a poor greek hero. I still hadn't decided if it was a comedy or tragedy.  
They must have watched the whole show I put on this ...rather snowy stage.  
With a touch of irony, I bowed in front of my unsuspecting and rather feathered audience.  
When I tried to shoo them away...I remembered the hypocrisy of this, as it was me rather invading their home than the other way around.

I packed my things, feeling warm and dried enough and ...didn't know where to go.

My orientation had been always out of the ordinary -in a positive sense-  
but right now, it wasn't working at all.

Maybe the park is really disorienting by night. If there wasn't a moon behind the clouds, I would've tripped over my own steps already.

I walked towards the direction I think I came from, only to get lost again.  
This was maddening, I mean, I usually wouldn't lose my cool over something like this but being honest,  
I was starving. And you don't want to meet the hungry beast in my stomach.

The snow glowed brighter as I noticed the cloud cover was scattering and what I saw,  
stopped me _in. my. tracks._  
Just what the hell was happening?  
The moon...a...I ... I knew the moon, it was something that had always fascinated me, but this moon was definitely not the one I knew.

A big chunk of it was broken into many pieces, an unknown force holding them close together.

Unless something really, really world changing happened while I was on the pond, I must have been going crazy.

Keeping my sanity - until I got somewhere I could talk to other people - would be of paramount importance.

I began running through the park...and got the impression it was bigger, a lot bigger than I remembered.  
It was a forest.

And I looked over my shoulder, a dark big shadow was trailing behind of me...it...looked like a giant, rabid black wolf.

I chuckled while I kept running 'where is Van Helsing when you need him?' I asked, mostly for myself.  
At this point, I was completely sure I was insane. But that wasn't enough to stop running.  
You can never be hundred percent sure. Right?

At some point, I felt its breath behind me and I managed to swing my suitcase around, batting one of its fangs away from me.  
I tripped and the creature growled, lunging at me.

Not having anything but my suitcase to protect myself, I tried to punch it with my other hand, I swung with all my force and was surprised to discover _a blade_ sticking out of its stomach.  
 _A_ blade _I_ was holding in _my_ hand.

The creature let out a small gasp and dissolved into ashes, being blown away by a sudden winter gale.

It left a shining sword in front of my eyes. What was this? How did this?...and I looked into my hand closely. At the end of the hilt was a medallion I instantly recognized. Apollo.

I was awestruck, I certainly liked swords but I knew nothing about them.  
And this sword was strikingly beautiful, if you can put that to words somehow.

A sword hidden in a small medallion was one of the things I knew wasn't normal, even for massive ignorance regarding swordbearing knowledge, I knew that wasn't possible.

Taking a look at my suitcase, I noticed 3 deep incisions into the leather. It hadn't pierced through, probably because of the titan innards but a bigger question was still hanging around.

What the actual fuck was going on?!

And what was that thing!  
The closest thing I could imagine were Werewolves and I was pretty sure those were simple folk legends.  
I _was_ sure of that...

Looking up again, I noticed a small light in the distance, it was flickering in the wind.

Closing in, I noticed a small, wooden house. With a small lantern hanging by the door.

A safe harbour for the night? Maybe.

I just don't want to bother those people this late in the night...

I looked down at my wrist watch and...it was going slightly backwards. As in ..the _opposite_ direction backwards.

Certainly, I couldn't be more impressed after the Werewolf. A defective watch was almost ordinary.

I knocked at the door and a handsome lady opened up.

And remember I said I could not be impressed by anything more?

Strike that, this lady had ears.

I mean...cat ears!

'Ahm. _Good evening_?'

' _..._ ' I ...was at a loss of words.

'Staring is impolite'

'Ah ...I a...am...I'm sorry, I just got attacked by a really big beast and I am a little disoriented'

'A Grimm?' She asked.  
 _Where did I hear that before. Brothers Grimm?_  
The cat lady motioned inside. 'Just come in, I will close the door'

I stepped into the small wooden house and uttered my thanks.

'Don't worry, this far into the forest at this hour is suicide if you aren't an adventurer, a huntsman or someone dying for a thrill'

'I guess'

The stranger was still staring at her ears.

'Didn't I told you it was rude to stare? Don't you have any faunus there where you come from?'

'Being completely honest, I think I've never seen a faunus in Europe either'

'Ah Europe, is that where you come from?'

'You could say so'

This man was certainly mysterious.

'And where is this Europe?'

...yeah, I know, quite irrelevant nowadays, right?

'I ...' I feigned ignorance...What could I else say?  
' I can't remember, I woke up in the middle of the forest and didn't even know how I got there'

There was some truth to his words, at least, she pondered.  
He would surely say more when he had calmed down.

She looked down and saw his suitcase, sporting some clear, long cuts along the surface.

'You were _attacked_?' she raised an eyebrow

'Ahm. _Yes_ , that was the first thing I said' he smirked

'I just thought you ran and hid until the beast was gone' she was visibly amazed I was alive.  
Or that my suitcase withstood the attack. Or maybe _both_.

'Yes, I managed to defend me long enough to make use of my ...sword here'

I held up my "pocket sword" into the light. Her eyes shone in the light.

She had always had a thing for swords, though she preferred to carry daggers. Way easier to conceal.

'What's its name?'

'My pardon?'

'Your sword, its name?'

Ah. I ... _what_?  
Improvise Owen, improvise.

'Apollo'

'Nice name. Outlandish, but strong, I like it'

How come I can even understand her? I don't even speak english!  
Whatever, what the eye does not see, the heart does not grieve over.

'Let me introduce myself, I am Owen and you?'

'Oh, 'her cheeks took a different shade of red.. 'I am sorry...'

'Hello _Sorry_...' I deadpanned

She laughed 'come on, I said I was sorry for not introducing myself.'  
'I am Myra'

I extended my hand and shook her ...paw? It was a hand but ...  
 _I better not overthink things_...

'You seemed quite eager to learn the name of my sword before mine'

'It's just...I've learned the hard way that here, out in this forest, the swords outlive their bearers most of the time'

I was a little terrified. Just a little.

She looked down, slightly ashamed, for not asking my name or for what she would say next, I don't know.  
'...and I really like swords, knives, daggers and the sort'

Honesty and kindness. I liked this catgirl already. I smiled.

And then it dawned on me.

I must have looked weird.

'Owen, you are creeping me out. And quit staring already'

This guy was smiling and his eyes were wide open, like he had seen an unstoppable train rushing for him on his birthday. If that made any sense.

I snapped out of it. FUCK. _I know where I am!_ Remnant, the world of RWBY!  
How could I've been so blind!

'Owen? Now you are frowning. Are you sure you are alright'

'I just...realized something'

'And...?'

'Ah...nevermind'

'Aw come on, you first creep me out and now play the mysterious kind, spill it out' she demanded.

How could I change the subject? Maybe something that worked both ways.

'I must go to Vale. How long do you think it would take to get there?'

'By horse, a week, but if you get to the next town, you could use maybe a faster transportation method'

'Like what?'

'I don't know, I've always travelled by horse'

I realized I had a little problem. Or rather big. Depending of your priorities in life.

'I don't have any money, how long would it take if I walked?'

'Don't be silly, I could lend you a horse and some money'

'Just like that?'

'Just like that. Let me just satiate my curiosity. What did you realize just now?'

...at this point, I know exactly what I am supposed to do. No. What I _want_ to do.

'I just want to ... save the world' he smiled but she noticed a certain sadness flash in his eyes, if just for a moment.

She smiled but didn't laugh. She reclined on her seat and seemed to reminisce in the past.  
A grin creeped up her face.

'Who didn't want that at some point in their lives? Who am I to stop you.  
I will help you get to Vale'

Ahm Ok?  
I took a swig of the fresh water she had poured for me and asked  
'Just like that?'

'Yeah. I must travel to the town anyway, one day earlier or later doesn't make a difference'  
...'Just like that'

I was positively surprised. And then my body reminded me of some dire needs.  
My stomach rumbling aloud being the first.

'I take it you are hungry?'

'Yeahh definetely' and a big yawn, being the second 'Sorry'

'Nah, it's ok.  
I will put some food on the stove. I haven't eaten either, I was trying to make a diet but I certainly won't be able to resist if I cook now' she gave me a sly smile.

'I guess it's fish, right?'  
I think, I might be an undercover asshole sometimes.

She smirked and felt confident enough to state her mind.

'Owen?'

'Yes?

'Asshat'

I laughed. Yeah that wasn't very tactful of me.

'As a matter of fact, I had some leftover stew with potatoes, probably the last for this season'

'You don't have to share your best dishes with me, just something to keep my stomach quiet through the night'

'Don't be silly, I will call you when it's done'

I was left by my own devices, so I took out Apollo again and took a closer look at it.

It was incredible. As if it could read my mind, the whole sword just zipped back into the coin,  
the coin itself becoming very light, but heavier than you would expect from a coin of that size.  
Even a silver coin like this one.

Putting the coin on the table, I grabbed my suitcase and took a closer look at it.

It was already old and had accompanied me on may adventures in a more civilized world...  
Who am I kidding? Just the _normal_ world. Not more _civilized_.

Myra served the dishes and looked expectantly at me.

'And what is the name of your shield?'

'Shield?'  
I looked down at my case.

'It shielded you, that must be your shield, right?' She raised a brow.

'Right...'  
For some reason, making up a name now was a difficult task. It must have been the exhaustion.  
I took a quick look over it and came up with a name...it was pretty scratched but it read...  
'Samnite'

'Samnite? That sounds quite unique'

'I guess it is' ...just realizing the historical context of that word. Well, that was a nice coincidence.  
I smirked and asked '...do you have a thing for shields as well?'

She blushed 'No, I just like swords. Shields are clumsy and can cost you a lot of agility.  
Why stop an attack if you can just dodge it and attack instead'

'Ah, dangerous lady'

...'without even stopping at all, wasting your energy?

'She is smart' Did I just said that aloud?

'Of course I am!' she feigned a pout but I didn't took the bait.

'Smart or dangerous?' I poured rhetoric gasoline unto me and waited for her to light the fire.

Oops. I need to keep my tongue in check.

I just grinned at her and she motioned to the dining table. _Phew_ , she didn't flay me alive. That was a good thing.

After eating a meal meant for gods, she lend me some blankets and a pillow.  
I would sleep on the couch-ness made of logs and branches.  
Better than with the horses in the stable, she told me.

The next morning, after an uneventful night, we washed up and set everything for the journey.

This would be probably the biggest adventure of my life.

Just outside the stable, we prepared the horses and I was glad for the company Myra provided.  
'I am glad you are joining me on my quest, at least for this part of it, my fair _catlady_ '

'For I will enjoy it' Myra grinned, showing her white fangs and in a swift move, she mounted her snowy Pony.  
She didn't seem fazed by the remark.

I just looked at my horse. It was seemingly bigger than a monster truck.  
It was black. And mighty.

And then I realized, I had no idea how to ride a horse.  
 _She planned for my suffering_. I should have been nicer to her

*sigh* 'This will suck'  
I only heard Myra snickering in the backround.

* * *

 _One life,  
_ _Is not a long time,  
_ _When you're waiting,  
_ _For a small sign_

* * *

 _ **A/N:**_

Salutations! _  
So hello everybody. I had not planned for this, but today I suddenly started writing this fic.  
I wrote in a day more than in 3 years for my other fics, so I think it is a good thing.  
I hope you enjoy the journey and I am willing to read any constructive criticism you may want to share with me. Encouraging words are also appreciated. I prefer private messages over comments/reviews, but you may state your opinion as you wish. Please log in before you comment so I can get back to you on that, otherwise it will be considered a pointless comment and will get deleted._

~EC

 _ps: I am a **terrible** perfectionist. I will come back and fix minor errors as I find them, if there are any_

ps2: My betareader, Shavranekto asked me to **warn you** :  
This fic has **SPOILERS**. You should have watched Volume 1, 2  & 3 at least before reading this story.


	2. 2 - Gentle Spirits

2 - Gentle Spirits

So there I was: Lying in the snow on a beautiful, sunny day somewhere in Remnant.  
My back hurt badly. The horse was mocking me and Myra couldn't hold her laughter.  
Holding her head with her hands, she briefly entretained the thought of teasing him, but it was already cruel enough  
'You could've told me you never rode a horse before'  
'Ughn, it's not like that. I just lack talent in that department. Like, completely'  
'Come here, let me show you. You can still walk, can you?'  
I tested my luck and got up, slowly.  
'Yes, only my pride is broken and back hurting, but I am fine'

The girl with the plum hair and cat ears smiled at me with a humorous gleam in her eyes.

After some hilariously failed attempts, I managed to get a hold on the horse and could stay on it.  
She showed me a couple of moves and after a couple of minutes I felt confident enough to begin the journey.

 _This girl will be my death. At the pace we were going, I wouldn't even know when it happened._

With the wind rushing at my face, I imagined the overture of William Tell would be an adequate theme for my, possibly, last race.  
 _In times of great danger, humor is always a better prospect than fear._  
 _It would be a good death. Having fun and in nice company._  
But I still had some plans in life, so I decided to stay glued on the horse as we were blazing the path through the freshly fallen snow.

Myra was having a great time, enjoying that for once, someone was even clumsier than she was.  
Well, at least clumsier than when she first tried riding a horse.  
She had gotten quite proficient in riding horses in the last years.

They would ride the horses at full speed if possible, Myra didn't want to spend the night in the forest.  
That's why she had a certain day to travel in mind, where she would meet with wandering merchants and could sleep, if necessary, somewhat protected from the hazards of the forest.

With Owen riding along, she could manage as well or so she figured.  
In any case, she rode her horse in a quick manner, evidently trying to reach the town before nightfall.

Owen was scared at first, but after a while, riding the horse at speeds beyond his imagination was thrilling, even fun.  
He just had to be sure to remain on the road, twisted ankles and broken bones weren't a nice prospect for the weekend.

 _Weekend? I don't even know which day it is._

A couple of hours later, she decided to slow down, to my relief and the horses' as well.

'We will stop soon, eat something and let the horses rest. But not yet, just slowing down, I don't want to kill the horses'

I was glad. 'Yeah, that would be pretty inconvenient. _Wait_. What about me?'  
'I haven't decided yet if I will chew your face off'  
'Really, it doesn't taste good, I know, I've bitten my tongue like 5 times since we departed'  
That elicited a heartfelt laugh from Myra.  
After a while, they stopped by a small river.

Myra told Owen to unpack some sandwiches and a water canteen from the bag she had given him.

She reached for her own bag and gave the horses some fruits she had previously stowed.

We would stop for twenty minutes, enough for the horses and our sore bottoms, she explained.  
I was actually flabbergasted the horses were still in one piece, but hey, what do I know about horses, she's gotta know their limits.

After munching on my first sandwich, a thought crossed my mind.

'Myra, can faunus and humans...you know...?' I gave her the _look_.

She gave me a knowing smile and scratched one of her cat ears 'Oh, I see what you are getting at... yes you are rather handsome, in a rugged way, but still...'

My spider-sense was freaking out. Call it _chastity police_.

'Waitwaitwait I didn't mean it like that. Don't get me wrong, no offence. You _are_ a beautiful girl'  
Owen was blushing profusely and Myra loved it to see him lose his calm demeanor.  
That, until she heard the compliment. Now she was the one visibly blushing.  
'What, no cat jokes?' Her sly grin again.  
'I was tempted, but I thought once in a while, harmless honesty could do you well'  
'Thanks. No offense taken. So, you were asking?'  
He chuckled 'It's just there aren't any faunus where I come from and I was wondering what happens if they get together,  
I mean Humans and Faunus. Don't look like that, I don't like to stay ignorant if I can help it.

' _Hm_ '

'Well?'

'I ...rather... I don't really know...I mean it _works_...' she resisted the urge to motion with her hands  
'...but I don't know if it can actually lead to a family in that sense'

'Hmm ok, so have you ever seen mixed families?'  
'I don't come to the town that much, to be honest'  
'Admitting ignorance is not a sin, you know?'  
'Argh ok, I just don't know. I'm quite the introvert and never came to the town if I could help it.  
My master always handled the business side of things, I avoided coming to the town'  
'And why is that?'  
'I...don't know...' She frowned, trying to remember something.  
'You don't know much, do ya?'  
She punched me on the shoulder and smiled a bit, but she looked hurt.  
'Sorry, did I say something wrong?' I feigned a sore shoulder. _Yes, use the guilt, Luke_.  
'No, it's just, I can't remember...there is a lot I can't remember from when I was little'  
She almost looked depressed, but the expression left her face as fast as it came.  
I tried to change the topic, unaware that I would fail miserably.

'You mentioned a Master, did you just exchange roles or...?'

'Well, he is actually my uncle, but he taught me everything I know about forging, welding, bending and such.  
I've been living with him since I was 5 and I can't remember much from before'

 _Forge? Weld?_ 'I didn't ask before, what do you do for a living?'  
'I am a Blacksmith, well I haven't done anything but weapons, so I would say I am rather a sword smith and I was a gunsmith apprentice but... my uncle disappeared a year ago'

Well shit. Great change of depressing topics, Owen.

'I'm sorry to hear that, do you have any clues?'  
'No, I just hope he is all right. He usually left a note when he had to leave in a hurry or to attend something important.  
'He had done that before?'  
'Yes, once he disappeared for two nights. He never told me why but I guess every man has his secrets'

She winked at me, she was really flirting with me. _Heh. What's not to like?_

After that, we resumed our trot to the town until our bodies and mind where exhausted.  
We stopped at a glade. It was already dark.

We decided to light a small fire as it kept smaller animals away and the big ones would come anyway, it was better being able to see them.  
Regarding Myra, I guess with her enhanced faunus senses she could see them anyway  
Despite my night vision being beyond ordinary, it couldn't compete against hers.

I volunteered for the first watch.  
I hadn't forgotten my last encounter with a Grimm, but now I felt a lot more confident knowing I was wielding weapons and could defend myself.  
Being completely honest, I had no idea how to use them effectively. I just hoped I wouldn't need them yet.

I unfolded Apollo, the shine only accentuating her beautiful lines.  
 _Yes, I'm talking about the sword, Myra was sleeping behind my back, perverts._  
I let my suitcase down on my side. I hadn't tried to open it again.  
I grabbed it and placed it on my lap and took a closer look at the long gashes on the side, there were even some small scratches on the titanium innards.  
Letting one of those claws come close was most certainly a bad idea.

For most of the night, nothing happened.  
Besides a few birds and crows, no other animals seemed to approach us.  
The horses nickered a couple of times but remained mostly quiet and calm.

The moon seemed less broken than last night. I guess I will need to ask her sometime about moon cycles.

After the moon had moved across most of the starry dome above us, I remembered Myra's turn was due long ago.  
I had decided to let her rest a while longer but forgot completely to wake her up.

I gently patted Myra's shoulder. That didn't faze her in the slightest.  
I tried again, to no avail.  
Now I ran my finger along her exposed arm. That should definitely wake her up.  
But it didn't.  
This being an emergency (as I really needed to sleep), I had to resort to more drastic measures.  
 _I tickled her waistline._

'Aghnn you are no fun' ...so she was feigning it!  
'You evil woman, I tried to wake you up for minutes, you were faking it all the time'  
'No, no I just woke up with the tickle' she lied, it had been the arm.  
 _And she had liked it._ Of course she would never tell him that.

He smiled at her. If they weren't in the wilderness, he would have let her sleep, but he needed to be alert as well, until they reached the town.  
 _...I wouldn't mind to lay on her side..._ he shook off that thought and chuckled to himself.  
' 'You up?'  
'Just a sec, ggggaaahhhnn' she stretched, like a cat would do, _totally_ unexpected, he mused.  
But how different are cats from humans really in that regard? Not at all.

'How long did I sleep?  
'6 hours, I think' That, if his clock was working at all.  
She looked surprised and held her scroll out. 'You are right, but why didn't you wake me up earlier? We said _4_ hours each'  
'Yeah but you looked like you really needed it and I only need to close my eyes for a while, I can rest later in the town'  
' 'You sure?'  
'Yeahh' he yawned. Damn, he was really tired.  
'Ok then, I kept your spot warm' she grinned and patted at the sleeping bag.  
'Very funny', Owen slid into the blankets and smirked. Finally some shut eye.  
'Good night'  
'Thanks, stay sharp, Paws'  
She punched him lightly on the arm before standing up, chuckling and finding a spot to keep watch.  
That elicited a unconscious smile from him, who was already asleep.

* * *

The neighing horses woke me up.

My eyes were open in an instant, my hand on my sword a moment later.  
Myra came crashing over me just as I was sitting up. That definitely woke me up  
She was panting and seemed to be hurt. I looked immediately past her and saw it. A Grimm. As big as the last one.

I sensed my grip on the sword getting tenser, feeling the weight.  
'Are you ok?'

'Yes, try to keep it away from the horses, I will unbind them'  
She hissed and limped towards our equine companions.  
'You are in no shape to free them, the beast will catch you at once'  
'Doesn't matter, as soon as I buckle up, we might be able to outrun it.  
I stood between the beast and Myra. It wasn't pretty.  
 _Apollo_ heaved in my hand. _She_ was excited. But was _I_?  
I hefted Samnite, I would need it.

The beast's patience came to an end. It growled at me and looked towards Myra and the horses.  
I growled back and demanded its attention. No way I would let him pass.  
I must be pretty stupid. Or brave. _Most definitely stupid._  
I lurched at it before it could jump at Myra. With one swing of its claws, it sent me crashing against a tree.  
Luckily, I blocked the blow with Samnite.  
I jumped up and looked back at the tree, splintered to pieces. Damn. ' _This will hurt like hell later..._ '

The one good thing about the whole situation was the Grimm having lost interest in Myra.  
At least for now.

I was about to ask when Myra whispered ' _Done_ , hurry up and hop on!'  
I was happy to oblige.  
But the beast had blocked any possible path. No way I would be lucky twice in a week.  
The creature decided to turn around and make a dash for Myra.  
Just like that, its fate was decided, I jumped at it, blocked one of its instinctive slashes with Samnite and thrusted the sword into its neck. But it wasn't enough to bring it down.  
The beast swerved at me and I jumped back before his claws could hit me.  
In that instant, Myra was on his back and making quick cuts with her daggers.  
The Grimm threw one of its arms around and hit her.

Myra didn't fall off it but her daggers went flying and when the Grimm attacked again, she unsheathed her claws instinctively and slashed at the neck of the beast, injuring it but not enough for it to break its attack.  
She wasn't fast enough to dodge one of the blows which hitting her, sent Myra flying across the road.

' _Fuck_ , Myra!'  
She didn't respond. I wouldn't be able to come close with the beast between us.  
And the Grimm decided to go for her prone, unmoving form.

I was _pissed_.

Dashing at him, I let Apollo slide back into it's coin form and then let it jump forward when I was close enough, making a decisive cut into its neck.  
The beast staggered and swerved around, punching me to the ground.  
 _This is it, folks._

Pushing the sword further into the beast and thrusting it with all my might, I saw the huge beast plummeting towards me.  
I should have crushed me, but it fell apart suddenly before its weight could make _pancakes with jam_ out of me.  
Not a second too late.

Shaking the daze off my mind, I leaped up and ran to Myra's unconscious form.  
I crouched at her side. Other than a few scratches and dirt, she seemed almost as in a relaxed slumber.  
She had been extremely lucky. The Grimm had hit her with the back of its hand.  
I reached for her neck and looked for any injuries.  
Finding none, I decided to wake her up, in the most fitting manner.

' _Hnnn, why do you have to tickle me every time?!_ '

'Because it works. _Are you ok_?'

'Yes, I might even _walk_ again' Her eyebrows travelled exaggeratedly up and down while she talked, obviously teasing me.  
I was a little worried at that remark.  
'Gosh, can't you take a little joke? Just look at your face. I'm fine Owen'  
I helped her up and felt it...  
She had a surprisingly strong aura.

'I'd thought that blow had got the best of you'  
'It seems I'm not that easy to take out'  
Remembering a conversation from earlier that day, I asked 'And you still prefer daggers over swords?'  
'Maybe I should carry a sword for those situations, but for the city, I'd still prefer daggers'  
'Seems reasonable. So. Do you want to rest some more?' He smirked  
'I'm in a so-not-sleeping mood right now' Her eyes showed concern but her white fangs meant a more humorous note.

'Let's buckle up, maybe we can get there before sunrise' I commented at her growl.

We rode at a lighter pace now, slow enough to talk.

'So you want to tell me, you'd never fought against one of those?'

'No, mostly smaller Grimm, dogs and wolves, never something this big.'  
'You were pretty reckless back there, Myra' I frowned  
She looked down 'Maybe...'

After that, we remained silent most of the time.

We rode through the dawn, the dampness hanging in the air, when we saw the first lights in the distance.  
The people were turning off the lamps.

Myra and Owen tied up the horses and filled up a water bucket for them.

Both went to the transportation office, still closed this early in the morning, so they decided to get breakfast.

Myra found an open bakery and they sat down. She ordered some biscuits and some tea for both of us.  
Both enjoyed the respite and company, wholly invested in the breakfast.  
After they finished, Owen motioned for the waiter until he saw Myra's confused expression.  
I forgot _she was paying,_ Owen mentally facepalmed, he was certainly embarrassed.  
Myra simply grinned, knowing she would not get to see Owen blushing very often, or so she thought.

* * *

The sun was already up when we exited the bakery and I sensed trouble when one guy in charcoal clothes and wielding a whip approached us.  
They had a black ornate symbol inside a white circle. The symbol resembled a person with a whip and a pistol, a dust crystal hovering over its head.  
Owen would notice it just in passing, but he wouldn't forget the symbol.  
What really alerted him were the other two guys walking a few meters behind him, leering at Myra, holding their own whips with clenched fists. Now we were truly surrounded.  
He also didn't miss the first guy trying to grab Myra's hand before she had swiftly withdrawn it.

The oldest one of the thugs wanted to teach both of them a lesson they would never forget and maybe, if he timed it right, he could enjoy himself before he had to dispose of her later.  
Killing the human would be regretful but necessary if he posed any resistance.

Fear may work on him, like it usually worked, the thug thought for a moment, but the guy was faster than him and had already taken a defensive stance between them and the cat whore.  
So it was decided. 'I have no fear to punish you, scum. Fuck off or pay your betrayal with your life'

So he was talking to me then.  
'I could say the same, but that would be lame now. Back off. Leave her alone. I won't ask you twice' Owen said, in a very nonchalant way.

'Owen, let us just go' I heard the fear in her voice. So she knew this kind of scum. I grudgingly accepted.  
I took her hand and as soon as we had turned around, the other two blocked our way.  
'I guess there is no peaceful outcome to this situation' I whispered to her.  
'Let us pass or I will...' Owen started but was interrupted...  
'Yeah, show us, oh dangerous ranger' one of the thugs interrupted.  
I looked at Myra and now it was obvious to me why she avoided the city. Something had happened already before.

I decided to be blunt. 'Fine, let me be perfectly clear'  
He leapt forward and dealt the bigger one a powerful but clean slash across the chest.  
The thug was evidently not prepared for his sudden attack and jolted before being hit. The slash sent him crashing against a railing.  
The guy was stunned, his aura dropped low. Very low, he could feel it. 'Ah guys, we should really back off' He nervously babbled.  
I must say, I didn't expect that.

It seemed my blows were dealing a lot more damage than they should.

'Listen to this guy, don't make me stain my boots with your blood'  
Owen noticed the other two not backing out of the fight. They intended to continue.  
The big guy was out and had already crawled behind some crates.  
Surrender didn't seem like an desirable option, so Owen decided to make them draw their weapons and let them make the first move.  
' _Please_?' he teased.

Both attacked at the same time. Owen gently pushed Myra to the side and motioned her to make room for him, which she conceded.

The brown haired, younger boy slashed at him first.  
An attack which Owen dodged, batting the concealed axe away with his suitcase, which surprised both of the assailants. Owen made a quick dash and slashed at the older one of them, stunning him and pinning him to the ground.  
They seemed to be inexperienced in combat. At least more than he was himself.  
'Quantity over quality, is it everywhere the same shitty mindset?'  
The older one tried to get up, only to look at a very sharp blade, very close to his face.  
'Don't. One more blow and your mother will get a fruit basket and some flowers'  
That seemed to work, as he visibly slumped.  
Before the young boy could lunge at him, Owen shouted instinctively over his shoulder 'Don't even think about it, junior. I'd be sad to put an end to such youth. You may still learn to coexist with _different_ cultures, so please, leave the bad influences behind and I won't have to kill you'  
The youngster hesitated until Owen stared for a moment angrily over his shoulder, not leaving the pinned guy out of sight.  
'Ah, yes sir...thanks?, I will try'  
'Don't _try_ , do it. Now go away before I reconsider'  
I heard him run away and then I looked at both criminals with a fierce and determined look.  
'I don't want so see you ever in this town again'  
'We won't list...'  
'I said _fucking_ never. There is no bargaining here. Does it seem like _I_ had a sword inches from _my_ nose? No? Bingo.  
Listen, maggot. I'm giving you two options. A death promise or retreat and reflect on your stupidity.  
And in no case your body shall remain in this town'  
Harsher talk seemed to seep to the thug's brain, as he stood up and motioned the other goon to retreat.

After both were out of earshot, Myra approached and drew my attention, grabbing my hand.  
'Owen, I am impressed, I didn't know you had it in you'  
She noticed his hand shaking.  
'Are you allright?'  
'Yes. I just didn't want to become a _murderer_ '  
'That would be in self defense'  
'But still. You see, we avoided bloodshed, so it could be done this way. I was this close to being lazy and cutting him up' he smirked at the last remark.  
'Yeah, I guess only laziness would make you a cold blooded outlaw' She smiled, showing her fangs.  
In a more serious tone, he remarked 'If they had touched you again, I wouldn't have backed down'  
He seemed to calm down and looked her in the eye.  
'Are _you_ ok?'  
'Yes. Thank you'  
He squeezed her hand and resumed walking.

Owen didn't want to press the issue, there would be another time for asking what had happened before, he pondered.

'Here, a train schedule' she motioned for a big notice board.

'You can take a train to Patchburg and from there, you should be able to catch a small craft to the mainland, the next one should leave in 40 minutes'

He was happy, he could finally do things right.  
He didn't know it yet, but he already had.

Owen's brows furrowed for a moment. He would certainly miss her, he guessed.  
Myra looked away. She knew she would miss him, but didn't want to be a nuisance.  
'Say, Myra...how...can we communicate?', he interrupted her thoughts.

That startled her and I didn't know why.

'What do you mean by that?'

'I don't have a scroll or anything like that'

'Oh. I mean, I almost never use it, but I have a scroll with me and I gave you my address. But I see the problem. Let us get a scroll for you.'

Ah shit, I didn't mean ... 'But I don't have any m...'

'What did I tell you? You can pay me back later'

'Are you sure? I don't even know how much something like that costs'

And she wouldn't tell him, he was already stubborn as they came.  
 _'Don't worry, come, let's go'_

After picking up a nice, black scroll for me, she walked along until we reached the train station and she produced me a small pouch with money. She wouldn't let me take a look though. 'Forget it. Do it in the train or leave it here'

She has a kind soul, I thought to myself.

We interchanged scroll contact information and I looked up the screen.

 _"Myra **Catweazle**_ _"_

'You've got to be kidding me' 'So much for nice introductions?' She seemed to enjoy my lack of tact, reversing an earlier occurrence.  
'Owen Crown, at your service' I made a reverence, she chuckled and then saved the name.

And when she said 'Scroll me', I had to suppress a fit of laugher. I guess this is a thing here too.  
'I will. But that goes both ways, ok?' I called, before stowing the scroll away in the pockets of my jacket.  
'Sure. Take care Owen. And thanks for saving me. Twice' Her eyes glinted for a heartbeat.  
'Nothing to thank me for' I genuinely smiled 'Thanks for the shelter, food and everything'

She pulled me into a small, shy hug and whispered 'Please, be careful' into my ear.  
I chuckled and hugged back 'I will, you too, ok? Don't go back alone, please, promise me'  
She grunted, but smirked and nodded 'Just for you'  
'And don't look for trouble either'  
She pouted 'You are no fun' and poked me with one finger.  
'You know that is not true' I pretended to give her a punch in the shoulder, which she avoided, not noticing my real goal.  
Tickle her in the waist.  
She gave a small cry and blushed 'Owen, don't humiliate me in public. I _will_ find a weakness and will use it next time we meet'  
I laughed and turned around, walking towards the train 'I am sincerely looking forward to that'  
I would miss her. I waved over my shoulder and she waved back.

I climbed the small steps and entered the wagon. She stood on the platform with crossed arms and a small frown in her face, waiting for the train to depart.  
A part of me regretted leaving her alone, but there were things needed to be done.

I looked for a free seat and stowed my suitcase between the seats. It seemed I had a full compartment for me alone.  
The train departed and I watched the snow melt and the raindrops travel through the window.

After a while, I pondered what would happen if I had been transported to the wrong era, I knew only some limited facts about the timeline. This worried me, I just wished the time was right, not too early and definitely not too late to be of any help.

A sleepless night and some more was taking its toll as my eyes were constantly trying to close.  
The compartment I was travelling in was empty.  
I could catch a nap now, I hadn't slept in a while and certainly deserved it.

I closed my eyes. I was closer to my destination.

 _Patience,_  
 _Is hard to find._  
 _Shadows,_  
 _Seem to fill your life._

* * *

 ** _A/N:_** _Chapter 3 is underway, a big chunk of it was actually written as chapter 2 and I noticed the chapter getting bigger and bigger, so I decided to make a nice, clean cut._  
 _I hope you enjoy!_  
 _ps: If you find any horrible typos or other errors, don't hesitate to point those out._  
 _ps2: I prefer PM's but comments are ok!_


	3. 3 - Small Stones, Long Shadows

3 - Small Stones, Long Shadows

 _I just wished the time was right, not too early and definitely not too late to be of any help._

As it later turned out, you can always help people, there is no such time as "right" to help someone.  
You just need to embrace the opportunity.

I was happily napping when I felt something brush my hand, I opened one eye and saw a figure escaping to the aisle.  
I looked down and understood at once what was happening. _Someone was trying to steal my suitcase!_

There was no point in running. I didn't think he would jump out of the train, as fast as we were going.  
Or maybe I was just being lazy, but I wouldn't push my luck, so I kept a steady trot, looking into the compartments along the way.

For some reason, my back was hurting like hell. _Just why...?_ ...and I remembered the Grimm and the tree _Ah_.

Arriving at the last wagon, I trotted until the end finding nothing suspicious.  
That is, until I thought of the toilet compartment.

I opened the door slowly, as it wasn't even closed and I saw a young blonde faunus boy and his human _partner in crime_ , brownish in hair .  
Both weren't being careful and didn't pay attention to the door.

They were trying to open my suitcase, in vain.

I thought I could tease them, there was no risk in that.

'Hey Kid, humor me, open the case' said Owen, with a grin in his face.  
In afterthought Owen would realize this kind of entrance was _really creepy_.

The human wannabe-thug shrieked, turned around and Owen noticed she was a girl, not a boy as he had first thought.  
Her faunus crime partner didn't even flinch. Owen was pretty sure the faunus must have heard him but didn't even care or was playing it cool.  
When he looked back to Owen, he seemed to have a certain fierceness in his eyes.

I continued my tease 'Trying to open the case? Good luck with that. Please tell me when you have opened it, there are some things I really need from that case ' The girl was still frightened.

'Believe me, not even a huge Grimm monster could open it, I doubt you can'

'A Grimm monster? Ha, I've seen a bunch of criminals in my life but never met such a bad scammer'

'Don't believe it until you see it? Turn the case around'

I was delighted seeing his eyes widen for an instant and then he frowned upon my case.  
'Nah, everybody can scratch this kind of crap'  
'You really think so? Do you have a knife?' He didn't respond.  
'Come on, I'm not teasing you or tricking you. I want you to try and scratch the metal of the case'  
'Uh, okay' he pulled a small dagger out of his pouch and was surprised when he couldn't recreate the scratches on the Titanium surface.  
'And? What do you say now?' He was already slashing at it, but it didn't even make a scratch let alone a dent.  
The boy seemed to be slowly giving up but was too stubborn to quit completely.  
'May I get my case back now?' I insisted.  
'When you get it, you will kill us and I cannot let you harm Mallorie' he put himself between me and her, waving his petty knife awkwardly.  
'No, I won't. I won't report you either, I just want my case back' I put on my best fatherly expression.  
He kept the fierceness in his eyes , but his hand shot forward and he gave me the case.  
He didn't let go at first. Owen looked into his eyes and asked 'I offered a fair trade, don't you agree?'  
'Sure'  
'Stop risking yourselves and putting your little friend here in danger'  
He let go of the case.  
'And why would I do that?'  
'Because you don't meet a nice person everyday and some day it could be the last'  
He seemed to reconsider.

'You aren't even armed, I got my knifes, why should I listen to you?'  
He was testing me. _Sure, why not_.  
'Because I am willing to let you go, unharmed, even if you tried to steal my case'  
I took Apollo out of my pocket and let it unfold, for effect.  
His eyes almost fell out of his head.  
I don't know if he was more amazed, fearsome or both.  
'Whoa, where did you get that from?'  
'Literally from other world kid, as my case'

The girl was barely audible but I managed to hear what she had said 'Please mister, don't harm Sam, he is always looking for trouble.' She looked away and whispered '...but he is a good person'  
I had already guessed he had some good traits despite his awkwardness. Call it intuition.  
I risked it and offered my hand. 'I'm Owen. Travelling Hero'  
The boy snorted but still shook my hand 'You don't look like a hero', a dismissive look in his face.  
'Why not?' I retorted  
'You simply don't look like one. You have a scruffy beard'  
'Oh and how is a hero supposed to look?' Owen scratched his chin unwittingly.  
'They...well they wear armor and...they ride on horses. And they are powerful mages and hunters too' the girl interjected.  
'You are probably right, I'm no hero yet. But I might still try' A smile formed in Owen's face. 'You can always start by being nice to other people, don't ya think?'  
'Sir, how do you become a hero?' I heard the girl ask.  
'I guess helping other people is of utmost importance. Avoiding unnecessary bloodshed is also important. I think even people who do bad things are able to learn and do good deeds, what do you say? You can always try to redeem yourself'  
'Hm hm' she nodded shyly. Sam was blushing gently, I guess he was getting the message.  
'Do you have a ticket for the train?' I asked both of them.  
'We don't need one. We can hide in the toilet until we reach Patchburg'  
'And what happens if you get caught?'  
The girl spoke first 'We would probably get in a lot of trouble, we are on probation'  
 _So young and already in trouble._  
'I can offer you a deal'  
At this, Sam rose an eyebrow.  
'I can get you tickets if you promise you won't get into more trouble until you get back home'  
'We are kinda homeless'  
 _Shit._  
 _I can't save the whole world, can I?_  
'Then at least avoid trouble until I catch my flight'  
'Hmm' he turned around to Mallorie. I don't think they spoke, I couldn't hear a thing, maybe they just signalled with their hands or had some kind of mutual understanding. Sam turned around again and offered his hand. I shook it.  
'Deal'  
I smiled and looked down at my hand. It was still attached and in one piece, despite the threats.  
'And what do you mean by " _kinda homeless_ "?' I air-quoted.  
'We lost our parents long time ago, We...got separated'  
 _Parents_. Are those siblings? I looked at Sam's ears.  
'What do you mean, you _lost_ them?'  
' _Ah_?' he looked at his sister and she nodded. He stared at her and she insisted, nodding at him again.  
'Well, we were assaulted by a bunch of gansters once on our way home and our parents told us to run and hide, which is what we did'  
The girl spoke 'We hid for half a day and then walked home, but they didn't come back. We waited for whole three days but no one came. After our food supplies were running low, we decided to go out and look for them'  
I noticed her eyes getting watery as she continued  
'But we never found them, so we are on the run now'  
 _I_... ahm... _damn_...

'We couldn't go back to the house, the gansters may have been trailing us'  
'Don't you have any relatives you can visit? Maybe they know the whereabouts of your parents'  
'We...have an uncle in Patchburg or the City of Vale, I don't know where he is now, but he is kind of a drunkard...'  
I don't like what my gut is telling me.  
'Keep trying finding your parents but also try to find your uncle, it's maybe better than being on the run all the time, stealing to survive'  
'I guess...'  
'What about the authorities?'  
'What? The only thing they care for is to _catch_ us, _separate_ us and lock us up'  
'And what about school? You should get proper education, I can see you both are resourceful and clever, you should have no problems to get good grades'  
'We won't get admitted in any school mister, we have already a criminal record'  
 _Arghh..._

'...I know it sounds pretty basic, but you need to eat.  
Maybe you are lucky and someone wants to help you, have you tried a foster family?'

'We aren't that young, you know. No one wants troublesome teenagers. And we don't want to get separated'

I think I might have cornered myself into that one.

'What about you, mister?' Asked the girl.

'What? Me?' _Adopting_ them?  
'To be completely honest, I couldn't support you. I only have this money because a friend tried to help me out so I can get to Vale'  
Her shoulders sank and I felt pretty awful, but it was the truth.  
'...And even then, what I will be doing won't allow me to take care of you, it is likely I won't come back for months'  
. _..or at all._ That went unsaid.

Somewhere, in a place near my heart, an idea began forming

Mallorie noticed Owen's eyebrows go up, as if he had noticed something he hadn't before.

 _She is very perceptive._

I cleared my throat 'Ok. Do and try to reach your uncle, ok? I can't do much either right now.  
Now, come, let us get some tickets for you, ok?'

We walked through the aisles until we found a ticket collector and I told her, the kids had jumped just in time onto the train but couldn't buy a ticket at the station, so I wanted to buy some for them now.

'You know this _actually_ means a legal offense...' Said the female collector.  
'Yes, I know, but we got caught in a fight with criminals and almost lost the train. I am sorry. I will pay whatever extra fee they need to pay'

The collector looked at the three of them, decided their plea wasn't completely untruthful and chuckled  
'I will let this pass, you have behaved so far and you look like nice, decent people, but next time please buy your tickets in advance, ok?' She smiled warmly and sold them tickets.  
'We will do, thank you very much!'  
The collector chuckled, turned around and kept walking through the aisle, controlling tickets.

'That was close' Sam uttered.  
'Did you hear what she said?'Owen questioned Sam.  
'Ahm...which part?'  
'The " _You have behaved_ " part'  
'Right...'  
'Have you?'  
'Not quite entirely behaved, no...'  
'If you want to avoid problems and appeal to people's hearts, try behaving first and tell them the truth'  
'Yes, sir!' He was being mostly serious this time. Mallorie grinned.  
'But Owen, you _lied_ to that lady' she noted.  
This girl _is_ certainly clever. 'Not entirely. I really fought against a bunch of criminals. They tried to hurt my friend back in Pockety'  
'But why?' I heard Sam ask.  
'They attacked us because she is a faunus'  
At that, Mallorie's expression brightened up. 'You have a faunus friend? My brother gets harassed often by other humans.  
I am his only human friend' she looked down while saying the last bit.  
Looking at Mallorie I corrected her thoughts swiftly. 'Now he has two'  
She smiled when Owen looked to Sam and shook his hand.  
Sam was still absorbed by the story and frowned 'Criminals?'  
'Yeah, there were three of them. They tried to separate us and beat her'  
At that they noticed Owen's expression hardens and his eyes literally change color, but it happened so quickly, they couldn't tell if they had imagined it.

'Three against two? That is quite unfair'  
'I didn't let my friend fight, she is quite capable but those guys were out to harm her and very dangerous'  
Sam couldn't believe it 'You took three guys all by yourself?!'  
'Well...you could say so. I actually just punched one guy and attacked the leader, making them retreat. Bloodshed is not always necessary'  
Sam thought Owen may really be powerful. But certainly not a _hero_. No. Not a hero.

Mallorie asked how those guys looked like, to stay away from this kind of people.  
Owen described them as normal looking, not really different from any person on the street and then he remembered.  
'They had charcoal clothes, at least one of them had a whip and I can clearly remember them having a kind of symbol.  
It was...an ornate symbol, a black symbol inside of a white circle of a person wielding a pistol and a whip and I think there was a crystal, a dust crystal hovering over the person'

At this, both kids did a double take, opened their eyes and a terrified expression appeared in Mallorie's face.

Owen stopped talking when he noticed the change of mood.  
'Do you know those people?'

Sam answered first, a shaky but determined tone in his voice 'Yes. Those are the people who attacked our parents'  
Owen was left speechless. A mix of anger and horror crossed his very soul but he didn't let it show.  
He just noticed Sam was still talking '...and I mean, those are probably other people, but their symbol is the same'  
At this, Owen was relieved, but not entirely. Those people were most probably capable of the same evil.  
He would have to look into this at some point.  
'Ok. I will remember this if I see those criminals again'

With the immediate ticket problem solved, I turned around to return to my compartment when I felt someone tugging at my jacket.  
It was Mallorie. Sam was looking down and away, obviously too prideful to ask.  
'May we sit with you, mister?'  
He smirked at that. 'Of course, I'd enjoy that. And call me Owen'  
'You can call me Mal then'  
'Ok Mal. Is your brother coming?' Sam was fidgeting with his feet.  
She motioned for him and we walked to the compartment.  
'Do you have a scroll by the way?'  
'We have a very basic one' I was about to say something but Sam nervously interrupted me 'It's not stolen!'  
'I wasn't about to say anything' I grinned. Well, now I _was_ lying. 'If you excuse me, I need to make a call'

Owen exited the compartment and walked the corridor up and down. He never was calm when he am on the telephone.  
A sweet voice answered on the other line and Owen heard the wind rushing and horses neighing in the background.

'Yes, Owen?'  
'Myra...'  
'Ahm yes?'  
'Why are you riding back home ...alone?' He guessed.  
'Errm' She cackled nervously 'well...you caught me... I... do owe you now, right?'  
...Owen usually guessed right.  
'I just wanted to make sure you would get back home safe and sound'  
'I will manage, I will make a small detour and sleep on a traveller cottage along the way' Owen had his doubts on that, but he would trust her.  
'Ok. Now, can you hear me clearly enough?'  
'Sure, what is troubling you? Did you get into the wrong train?'  
'It's not that...'  
'Well?...?  
Owen cleared his throat. 'Myra...you told me, you wanted to save the world once?'  
Myra made a thoughtful " _Hmm_ " in response.  
'Do you want to start saving someone's world instead?'  
I heard the rushing wind diminish, she had slowed down.  
That had caught her attention.

It was a big favor, even if it didn't mean forever, it was a lot to ask, a lot of responsibility and trouble that may ensue.

Myra slowed down and listened intently, what was Owen suggesting?  
'I ...I wanted to ask you something and it is something complicated to explain but...'  
She really liked it when he babbled, but what was he trying to tell her?  
'Owen. Talk to me. Don't beat around the bush'  
He stopped babbling and then he explained the situation to her.

* * *

As Owen came back to the compartment, he had a smug smile on his face. Mal noticed the sad look in his eyes though.  
 _I didn't want to trouble Myra anymore_ , Owen thought to himself.  
Owen excused himself and fell in a deep slumber, jokingly teasing Sam to leave his case where it was.

Mal turned to Sam and whispered. 'Es, we are causing this man lots of trouble. We should leave him in peace'  
'I think you are right Mal, but if we leave now, we will trouble him more. We are already involved'  
Mal frowned but nodded. She liked it when her brother was insightful like that. He sometimes had another perspective she hadn't thought about.

Arriving at Patchburg, they shook Owen's shoulder but he seemed to be really out, he was even _snoring_!  
Sam had an idea, he was certain it would wake Owen up.  
Owen's eyes shot open and he stared at his case, which had been grabbed by Sam 'We had to wake you up somehow'.  
Sam's pleased expression never diminished as he let go of the case.  
'You smug rascal' _Yep. They were clever and resourceful_.  
Owen was oddly proud.

As they descended from the train, Owen gently tapped both teens on the shoulder, getting their attention.  
'Sam, Mal? I need you to come with me but I will need to sort out something first'  
'Sure, there isn't really a place we can go to right now, to be honest' Sam quipped.  
A little smile appeared on Owen's face.  
 _I hope this is the last time you have to think that way._ Owen thought to himself.

He bought a ticket to the City of Vale and looked at the airship schedule.

Owen then turned around and started walking.  
He looked back and called for the siblings 'Ok folks, follow me'  
Sam frowned and Mal looked puzzled when they returned to the train station.

'I will buy you tickets back to Pockety, there you will be picked up by a good friend of mine.  
She will give you shelter but you shall help her with the animals and whatever she needs a hand with.  
Does that sound like a fair deal?'

'But why are you doing this?' Sam questioned.  
'Why not? She can use helping hands and you could use some food and some education, you can learn a lot from her'  
'Why is she willing to help _us_?' Mal demanded.  
'That's something you will have to ask herself. Rest assured, she is a kind person and I think she may be willing to help you in your quest, but that comes in second place'

Mallorie seemed happy even if she was confused.  
 _Sam...oh Sam_ , Owen thought for a moment before he grabbed Sam by the collar and whispered in a menacing tone  
'Don't you dare to cause her trouble. I can make an exception to my no-bloodshed-rule, just for you'.  
'Yyyy...yes sir!'  
In a more relaxed tone, he added 'Simply call me Owen, I know you will behave. Just don't do anything stupid, ok?  
She is the faunus friend I talked about'

At this, Sam visibly relaxed and some gleam returned to his eyes. Mal's smile couldn't be bigger. She had heard it.  
They were worried the friend would be a _human_ , Owen realized.

After giving it some thought, he softened up and spoke gently to him 'I wouldn't let something happen to you or your sister. And I am sending you to the person I trust most. Don't worry and please don't run away if there is trouble.  
Always speak with her first. Or call me, ok?'  
'Ok. I...we will'  
'Attaboy'  
'What?'  
'Nevermind. Keep what I said in mind, ok?'  
'Sure'  
Owen raised his voice so Mal could hear him again 'Ok, let's go, you got to catch a train. But let us buy some tickets first.  
You need to stay out of trouble' he smirked while saying this.

* * *

After he had sent them off, not without a heartfelt hug from Mal and a clumsy handshake from Sam, he walked to the Skyport where he would take an airship and get to mainland Vale.

He heard some young kids talking excitedly and he observed as an adult smirked and shook his head overhearing the conversation.  
'Yes, next Year I can go to Signal and I will kick ass like my brother does!'  
At this, Owen slowed down. He _was_ on _Patch_. He could go to Signal Academy and meet Qrow. But then he reconsidered.  
 _I don't think Qrow is **ever** actually at the school. It is probably some kind of disguise and he just trained his nieces. And I need to talk to Ozpin, not Qrow,_ he pondered.  
He thought long about it, but decided to rely on information he had, not risky unknowns and wild guesses.  
He usually _did_ listen to the voice of reason in his head but often decided to ignore it if the situation required it.

The flight would take a short while but certainly less than the train.

Owen sat down in one of the benches and looked at the clock. Still 25 Minutes. He could enjoy a little respite from fighting criminals and making teenagers listen to reason.  
 _Shit_  
 _"Making teenagers listen to reason"_ is all I will be doing for the next time being, he thought. _They are mostly 17, right?_ _Ow, I feel old_.  
 _Now that I think of it_...how old am I here anyway? Do I look the part?  
He walked to the public toilets to take a look at his face. Myra's mirror had been broken and it was one of the things she had to replace when she got to Pockety.  
 _Not bad_. Owen thought for himself. He looked a tad younger, 6 or maybe even 8 years younger.  
He still looked a little older than he should have, but it was still closer to 18 than a few days before.  
He also looked slimmer. _That **is** nice_ , he thought, pleased.  
 _Getting old makes you fat. I tell you, stay young!_

After a short, relieving stop at the pissoir, Owen decided to go back and wait for the airship.

While walking back to the bench, Owen smiled when he saw an ad of Pumpkin Pete's showing Pyrrha Nikos.  
 _A real beauty indeed_.  
He was tempted to buy a box but he remembered Pyrrha saying those were quite unhealthy.

Owen rummaged in his bag and picked an apple, he hadn't eaten since breakfast.  
Myra had given Owen that bag for his belongings, the things he had bought in Pockety and some snacks.

Interrupting his musings, the airship docked and opened the doors, letting a couple of people out before Owen presented his ticket and boarded the ship.  
The flight was quite uneventful and smooth, despite the moving metal wings, which remembered Owen of a flying whale.

Between the clouds he saw it. The water glistering at the port and the tall buildings of the City of Vale.  
Further away, he spotted Beacon Academy overlooking the city, resting on the top of a cliff.

I was _there_. _I was finally in Vale_.

* * *

 _Dry your eyes now, baby;_  
 _Broken wings won't hold you down._  
 _You'll take flight soon, baby._  
 _You'll be lifted up,_  
 _And you'll be there._

* * *

 _ **A/N:**_

 _Some of the reasons why this chapter wasn't up earlier were:_

 _1) Procrastination, despite a big chunk of the chapter being already written to some extent. (10%)_  
 _2) My betareader (Shavranekto [SN]) kept me busy fixing some minor errors in previous chapters. (7%)_  
 _3) Rewriting some parts of this chapter (1%)_  
 _4) Considering jumping off a cliff after re-reading some of the errors SN pointed out. (25%)_  
 _5) ***snort*** Pancakes! (2%)_  
 _6) Soundtrack (find the value of x = %)_  
 _7) Cover/Art research/commission/design/timeline research/location scouting/geography of Remnant/corroborate lore (50%)_  
 _8) Competitive Dogfighting. No. Don't ask. (3%) [ Nothing with animals FYI ]_  
 _9)...To be Continued..._

 _ps:_  
 _I want to change some of the formatting to clearly separate Narrator, Owen's thoughts and those of everybody else._  
 _This being the first chapter done according to this. (I may have to come back and fix some lines here and there.)_  
 _Owen's thoughts will only be in cursive if they may be confused with someone else's thoughts or the narrator._  
 _Cursive will only be used to emphasize thoughts if he is thinking all by himself._

 _I will fix retroactively this formatting issue for chapter 1 and 2 in the next weeks._


	4. 4 - Arrival

_Vale_. A city full of pride, mysteries and colorful people.

Owen was contemplating out of the window as the airship floated above the lake separating the City of Vale and Beacon Academy.  
Far below the Academy, he could spot a port with some small boats connecting the city and Beacon.

Owen always had wondered why so few people seemed to use them.

As the airship made the final adjustments to dock, he felt a rush of excitement. And dread.  
He still didn't know if he would be able to stop the onslaught in time.

His gaze swept through the passengers. Mostly everyday commuters, he thought.  
A nervous, brown haired teen; A fox faunus with an unusual combination of red, black and blue spiked hair ;  
A young mother with two excited kids.

Something caught his eye, an elderly man was reading the newspaper, _Vale Times_.  
 _Roman Torchwick_ 's grin was clearly printed onto an article.  
If he is still alive, this must be before the Vytal Tournament, Owen thought. _That's good. I guess._

Owen's train of thought suddenly stopped when the hatch sprang open. He was slightly startled, stumbling forward as he exited the ship.

He looked up, Beacon Academy with its elegant tower hovering above the blooming gardens before him, waiting to share its secrets.

Walking on, he noticed the serenity surrounding Beacon.  
He was certain, the attack couldn't have happened yet, they were all too relaxed.

A pair of purple orbs accompanied by a mischevious grin bumped into him.  
He was slightly dazed and for a moment and he believed he had seen someone he... _knew.  
_ Indeed, he knew this person from sometime, somewhere...  
He was pondering what was so familiar about...her, but then his concentration faltered and his thoughts were put to an abrupt end by the loud and apparently never-ending rambling of a rather clamorous, moustached and portly hunter better known as Professor _Peter Port_.

Alongside of him walked an even more infamous huntress known by the name of _Glynda Goodwitch_ who was subject to his constant ramblings.  
Her expression wasn't a pleased one. Observing more closely, Owen could notice she was trying to put some distance between her and Port, to no avail.

Despite the corpulent appearance of Professor Port, he was quite able to keep up.

 _This is my chance._

He apologized rather absent-mindedly to the girl, just pausing a moment to look into those purple eyes he was sure to know from somewhere. He then trotted off to meet the teachers.

 _Just running away was probably rude of me, but I cannot lose them from sight_ , he thought to himself.  
They will expel me from the academy grounds if the find me wandering around the buildings looking for Ozpin.

Owen knew just sneaking into the school wouldn't end well.

He decided speaking to Glynda was worth a try. Talking to her was probably the fastest way to get to Ozpin.

'Miss G...' _Oh._ There is no way I could know her name, right?  
Owen cleared his throat and tried a different approach.  
'Excuse me ma'am, maybe you could help me. I wanted to speak to the headmaster'

Miss Goodwitch turned around and looked him in the eye. _Pretty threatening_.  
'And you would be?'  
'Owen Crown. I'm sorry, I just thought you could know, you look like a teacher'  
'Like _old and bad tempered_?' She arched a brow and hovered before the weirdly clothed student, _at least it was weird for her standards.  
_ 'Hah, no, no! Just, _mature_ '

At that statement, a slight smile appeared on her face just to disappear a moment afterwards.  
Owen pondered on how to explain the situation to them.

 _I just want to help against the impending bloodshed_ , it was just difficult to put it into words like that.  
Nope, that wouldn't work.

Something flashed through Glynda's face, Owen wasn't sure what had changed her demeanor but he noticed her defensive stance had relaxed a little.

'I am indeed a teacher and if you would follow me, I could bring you to the Headmaster myself'  
Ms. Goodwitch turned around and apologized herself to the portly teacher.  
'Peter, I'm sorry, I will take Mr. Crown to Ozpin, we will have to postpone this talk'

Then I realized what had brightened her mood.  
 _My request had turned into her excuse, a perfect escape plan.  
_ It seemed she would do _anything_ to get away from Port.

Glynda half heartedly waved at the sturdy professor as she turned around and led the stranger to the Headmaster.  
Professor Port observed them leave from the distance, a little disappointed this young chap had interrupted their spirited conversation.  
 _Well, it seemed rather important, the poor lad had a quite_ _ **alarmed**_ _expression_ , he contemplated.

* * *

We walked through the halls but I wasn't really paying attention, as I was more concerned not knowing what to say to Ozpin, much less if Glynda decided to be present there, listening.

She had introduced herself to Owen as a teacher and assistant to Ozpin while they walked through the gardens.

'So Mr. Crown, what kind of matter did you intend to discuss with the Headmaster?'  
 _I have to stall for time_... 'Please call me Owen'  
'Of course, Mr. Crown'  
 _A hard nut to crack.  
_ 'It is a matter I rather discuss with him myself...'  
 _I don't think she will buy it just like that..._  
'I...want to see his reaction first' Owen fiddled with his necktie.

At that, Ms. Goodwitch turned around slightly and her intrigued eyes narrowed on Owen, her walking pace unperturbed.  
'It is a matter affecting the school, so I guess you coul...should join us as well' he quickly added.  
Owen saw her brow rise and Glynda stopped walking altogether.  
He thought for a moment that he had said something wrong but then Ms. Goodwitch turned around and pressed a button on the side of a couple of sliding doors.  
'Here we are' Glynda gestured for the doors.

 _Huh?_  
In my haze, I hadn't realized we were already in front of Ozpin's office.

Riding the elevator up, my heart began to beat irregularly.  
 _There is so much at stake here. I cannot fail._  
What should I do?

Glynda nodded for me to step inside the office and a coffee slurping Headmaster stood up to greet us.  
Ozpin shook my hand and motioned for a seat. _I've never seen any other seats in this room. He brought this for me?  
_ Goodwitch positioned herself behind the Headmaster, slightly to the side, watching over Owen.  
 _I better don't make any sudden movements._

Ozpin seemed concentrated, trying to guess the reason for Owen's hesitation, which let a small smile onto his face.  
'Mr. Crown, Ms. Goodwitch told me in advance you were coming but she wouldn't state what you wanted to discuss'  
Owen peeked at Glynda, who smirked, her eyes unfocused.

 _Just when did Glynda text Ozpin and tell him? She seems to be quite good at hiding her scroll._

He proceeded to sit down while Ozpin silently observed him.  
Owen was wearing a plain white shirt with a red tie.  
He had also some worn out jeans and was wearing a leather jacket on top of that.  
Ozpin could swear he had seen a green smudge on the shirt, but it was partially covered by the jacket.

Ozpin had never seen something like this, so _out of place_.

This man was a puzzle for him.  
But Ozpin was an intellectual above all things and puzzles intrigued him.

Owen went through the facts in his head.  
He had already formed a somewhat logical explanation by that point, something both teachers would be willing to believe.

'Well, I will get straight to the point. Your students are in danger'  
'We know that, Mr. Crown, this is a _Combat Academy_ after all' Glynda interjected. Ozpin raised a brow at Owen's remark.  
'Yes, what I mean is someone will target them _personally_ and will try to wreak havoc in this school.  
And they may succeed in _killing_ some of them'

That ensured a almost unnoticeable look between the two teachers.

'The correct term is Academy. And may I ask where you get this information from?' Glynda inquisitive tone rang clear in my eardrums.  
 _Hrmph._ 'I cannot tell you for varied reasons but let me assure you my only interest is the well being of your hunters in training'

I had realized I couldn't tell Ozpin the facts straight as they were, it could change enough of the future for it to be completely different, making impossible to know when they would attack or how.  
I considered withholding information was a risky move but certainly worth it.  
Knowing about some parts of the future may just be enough to make it possible changing it.

In the other hand, changing the future too soon may make some things inevitable.

Ozpin cleared his throat and Owen realized, he must have zoned out.  
The headmaster repeated the question he had asked before.  
This time it was Ozpin who talked with his eyes slightly narrowed.  
'What would you want in exchange for this information, Mr. Crown?'

 _In exchange?_

'I...' Owen gulped 'I want to watch over them'  
'Why?' Ozpin asked nonchalantly, at least he made it look that way.  
'Because those students are the best shot at peace we have and they are also the only ones who can help fighting the Grimm menace we have'

That was mostly true, even if my own personal reason was simply to avoid the deaths of people I _knew_ I could save somehow.  
 _Everybody wins_ , I guess.

'I doubt you are in shape to protect anyone, let alone protect yourself' Glynda remarked.

'Personally, I think that knowledge and willpower can do more damage to the enemy than raw, brute strength.  
Furthermore, the body can be trained and the mind can be nurtured' Owen noted.

 _Man, am I touchy today._

Ozpin's brows relaxed and Glynda seemed more at ease, despite her narrowed eyelids.

'I have fought and protected others already, I just need to hone my skills and gain some experience' Owen concluded his plea.

'Then I reckon it would serve best both of your aspirations if you attended the Academy, like any other student'  
Glynda inhaled sharply at the comment but didn't interrupt Ozpin.

Owen's own brows rose and he barely managed to stop himself from hugging Ozpin. 'I think, I like that proposition'

Glynda was quick to bring him back down to Earth...err _Remnant_.  
'You should not talk about this meeting to anyone until we know more about the dangers it implies or the perpetrators'  
'That goes without saying' Owen nodded.  
'Then the matter is settled' Ozpin was a man of few words.  
Owen could certainly respect that.

Ozpin took another gulp of his coffee, rose from his chair and took his hand to his chin.  
He didn't motion for Owen to stand up, so he remained seated.

Ozpin was deep in thought, concentrated in the stranger before him  
His gut told him this individual was probably interested in the newly arrived students, the freshmen.  
Probably team RWBY, he was sure of it, but he might be concerned regarding other teams as well, like... the team of Jaune Arc, the boy who had entered the Academy with forged documents.  
Ozpin certainly knew of that.  
Mr. Arc couldn't fool him, no matter how well forged those documents were.

But this guy, he was an unknown in every respect.

That made the man in front of him even more interesting. And _dangerous._  
Mr. Crown didn't even try to cheat his way into his Academy.  
Owen was outright _asking_ for it.

Ozpin decided he would have to ask Glynda for her opinion later.  
She had always been a good judge of character whenever he was grasping in the dark.  
They could always kick Owen out of the Academy or take him down if necessary.  
It was worrisome if this man was a part of those who were to harm their students.

Ozpin kept deliberating on the subject.

 _Desperation in his voice? Dishonest intentions?_ Owen seemed to be on their side. He seemed sincere.  
Would he harm his students? _No, not my students_. But what about the staff?

 _Hm._ This man seemed to follow his convictions thoroughly, he wouldn't compromise the students.  
He would attack the staff if necessary.

'Mr. Crown? Just one more thing'  
'Please, call me Owen'  
'Owen, will you look after them, no matter who or what is trying to harm them?'  
'Yes, I will' There was confidence in his voice.

'And if this foe is overwhelming and relentless?'  
'I won't give up..'

Glynda was about to interrupt, but Owen's gaze followed her and she could almost feel the weight of his words when he spoke them.

'...no matter what this means for myself. I know, this won't come without sacrifices, without a cost'  
His eyes were fierce, his voice masked in determination.  
His heart full of doubt.  
But he wouldn't let them know that.

'Very well, we will decide on which team you'll be assigned to and inform you'

Ozpin meant to conclude the meeting, he had risen from his seat and when he grabbed Owen's hand to shake it, he felt _something_...

'Thank you, Mr...?' Owen realized he had never heard Ozpin's last name. Or maybe Ozpin _was_ his last name.  
'Just call me Ozpin'  
' _Or Headmaster_ ', Glynda coughed inbetween.  
'Ok. Thanks Ozpin'

 _Where will I sleep tonight_ was the question nagging at Owen's mind.  
He hoped he could get a room for a few days in Vale for the money he still had left.  
After that...he didn't know.  
He would have to get a job, probably. _Good luck with that, without any papers._

Owen had turned around and was almost out to the elevator when Ozpin motioned for Glynda and gestured Owen to wait for her.  
Glynda bent down towards Ozpin, who was sitting behind his desk.  
Ozpin spoke softly to Glynda, Owen being too far away from them to actually hear anything.  
Glynda looked Ozpin in the eye with a silent, questioning expression and nodded slightly.

Ozpin spoke louder this time, for Owen to hear.  
'You may visit the Academy. But as all teams have been already assembled, I will have to assign you to one of the freshmen teams'

Glynda took her scroll out and showed it to Ozpin, who seemed to consider something.  
'Let me see. I think team JNPR would be the best choice, Glynda.'

Owen was about to protest but then it occurred to him he wasn't supposed to know anything regarding teams or individuals.  
He couldn't discuss about anything without exposing himself.

Ozpin noticed his hesitation.  
'Something the matter? Is this assignation troubling for you?'

 _As if he knew what I was thinking._ But what could I do? Nothing but accept.

'It's nothing, I just hope they accept me into their team'

'Oh, I wouldn't worry so much about it, this team seems to make new friends quickly.  
I don't think you will have trouble settling in'

 _Wait. Why would I even reject it? It was exactly what I wanted. Maybe because of_. _ **... nah**_.

'You may stay in the Academy from now on,' Ozpin nodded to Glynda as he spoke to Owen.  
'...Miss Goodwitch will bring you to the dorms'

'That would be all, Mr. Crown'

'Thank you for your time' Owen made a slight nod and turned around to leave.

When the sliding doors closed, Ozpin was left alone with his thoughts.  
The Headmaster took another sip of his coffee. Something shimmered on the dark surface.

 _I don't know how far you are willing to go stranger, but I will let you try._  
Ozpin decided, embracing this new opportunity may be the best course of action,  
despite being something completely unexpected.  
 _It may come in handy in the future, more beneficial than dangerous._

* * *

After that meeting, Owen couldn't help it but to wonder.

Why was Ozpin so willing to let him into the school? The man certainly knew more than he was letting on.

Time would tell him, he hoped.

His thoughts were interrupted when Glynda cleared her throat and seemed to ask him something.  
'I'm sorry, what were you saying?'  
'You've almost lost an entire semester of readings, classes and combat training'  
'I can make up for it'  
'Are you sure?'  
'Yes. I will manage somehow'

 _It wouldn't be the first time I had to catch up years of classes and training in a short time frame_ , Owen thought.

Glynda looked at him intently 'It would be easier if you stayed back...'  
'No, it won't matter. At some point I will be forced to leave classes for missions I have no clearance for anyway.  
It will happen eventually, evil never waits until you are ready'

They walked down through the corridors, Owen following close behind Miss Goodwitch.

I never understood why so many people liked her. I mean, her character was ok-ish, she was a teacher after all and should be somewhat intimidating. And she was a badass.  
It was the ... _hotness_ he didn't get. Of course she was attractive. ...walking so close behind her was certainly clouding his judgement in that regard...

Glynda turned around to see that Owen hadn't wandered off and was just in the process of taking in his surroundings.  
She kept her pace, leading him to his designated dormitory.

Owen was glad he stopped eyeing a certain witch just a second before she turned her attention to him, otherwise he would have been a _very_ dead man.

Myra's words resonated in his head. _It's impolite to stare._  
He chuckled to himself.

Glynda knocked twice on the door and announced herself. After a few moments, a voice I would later realize as Jaune's told her to come in.  
She opened the door and was about to make introductions but to her surprise, Owen interjected her attempt to explain the new arrival, despite having himself a somewhat nervous expression.

'This is Mr...'  
Owen turned around to Glynda and grinned 'Miss Goodwitch, Thanks but I think am old enough to introduce myself'  
She raised an eyebrow and nodded for him to continue. If she was offended, she didn't show it.

He turned around to the strangers before him and introduced himself. _Well. Not strangers...but you get my drift..._  
'Hello, I am Owen, I may be staying with you for a while'

Glynda seemed in a hurry to leave...  
'Then I shall leave the introductions and further explaining to yourself, Mr. Crown'  
She left the room swiftly, but just before the door closed, an unusual smirking Glynda appeared again, leaning into the room.

'Ah and Mister Crown?'  
'Yes?'  
'Meet me at the Atrium tomorrow morning at 7:30 for your initiation'

Owen visibly gulped. Nora grinned. Ren and Pyrrha didn't. Something told them Owen would have to fight alone and it wouldn't be easy.

A glint of malice glowed in the teacher's eyes 'I think you are also old enough to _fight for your life_ '  
With that, she left and closed the door behind her. With her gone, there was no way to argue about it.

 _That was just plain evil,_ Owen thought. The perks of being a teacher, he guessed.

Seeing Owen's troubled expression, Jaune tried to help him out with what he thought was causing his concern.  
'The atrium is in front of the conference hall, pretty easy to spot'  
Pyrrha smiled and made Jaune aware of something he might have failed to realize.  
'Jaune, he probably doesn't know where that is either'  
'Oh, right, but we can show you the way there tomorrow before classes if you want'  
'Yeah, that would be nice guys'

 _Awkward introduction, here we go._  
'Sooo...Hello. I am Owen, Owen Crown. I guess I might be part of your team from now on.  
I hope you don't mind. I will try to avoid making much trouble'

Pyrrha offered a 'Hello' before looking to Jaune, who was startled by her gaze and offered his hand.  
'Oh, hello, I am Jaune. I am the appointed leader of team JNPR. J is for Jaune , N would be Nora  
Nora grinned. Owen just smiled and offered a hand which Nora shook vigorously.  
Jaune continued the introductions 'P would be Pyrrha', who waved and smiled. 'Hello Again'  
'And R would be me, Ren', who nodded politely to Owen.

Jaune pointed to the couch 'Feel free to unpack your things, I think you can put your bags beside the couch'

Team JNPR began preparing their notebooks and school papers for the coming day.  
Ren looked to Nora and asked if she had done all her papers for tomorrow.  
She nodded and jumped to her bed, giggling. 'Story time!' Ren sighed with an inevitable smile on his face.

Owen grinned at the pair's awkward interactions, Nora's quirkiness and Ren's patience with her.

They had left him to his devices, so he turned around and decided to unpack.  
 _Oh. Right._

He had virtually nothing to unpack. His very possesions were in the bag Myra had bought him but as far he could recall, there was not really much in it besides a change of underwear and some snacks.  
He wanted to buy more clothes in Vale but had totally forgotten it.  
And his suitcase was still jammed.

Owen felt his muscles and bones slightly aching. _It has been a long trip,_ he thought to himself.  
'Shaving would be nice, he thought aloud.  
 _If only for the sake of appearing younger and avoid awkward questions._  
 _ **Whose daddy are you?** Who are you visiting? _ Owen mentally facepalmed at the stupid image in his head.  
Then he scratched his chin involuntarily.  
Ren casually approached him and whispered 'I just have one straight razor for shaving but I can show you tomorrow where to get one in Vale'

Surprised at Ren's willingness to help him and the observation skills of the quiet asian guy with the pink streak, Owen simply smiled and nodded his thanks.

 _Wait. Not_ _ **asian**_ _, just asian looking. There is no Asia in Remnant_.  
Owen had always wondered how the different cultures of Remnant developed.

'Ren, I want to know what happened to the _Badass Baroness and the Fellowship of Awesome_!' Nora exclaimed.  
Ren quickly made an apologetic expression 'Duty calls'  
'Thanks Ren, I appreciate it'  
Owen felt sympathy for Ren yet all he could do was smiling.

* * *

While walking back to her room, Glynda decided to check up on Ozpin before calling it a night.

Something like this was likely to keep him busy for hours or at least intrigue him.  
She had seen his _chess expression_ and knew what it usually meant.

She knew him very well indeed.

The elevator doors opened, showing the spacious room where Ozpin worked and met his guests in the academy.  
Glynda cleared her throat and Ozpin motioned for her to sit down on the seat he had brought initially for Owen.

As she felt the silence had stretched long enough, she decided to speak up.  
'It has been an eventful day Ozpin, what keeps you awake?'

'It would make sense for Atlas to send one of their spies' Ozpin was thinking out loud.  
'Atlas? He seemed of a... _warmer_ kind.'  
'Glynda, you know best how hotheaded James can be and he _is_ as atlesian as they come.  
'Point taken. I still don't think Owen Crown is a spy...'

After an inquisitive look from Ozpin, she added 'Not from Atlas anyway'

'Time shall grant us more answers' Ozpin took a sip of his dark, liquid treasure.  
He squinted, his eyes roaming around the room unfocused, a clear sign he was deep in thought.

Glynda had simpler questions nagging at her mind. _How come he never runs out of coffee?_

Ozpin blinked a few times and looked up again 'I just hope we didn't make another mistake'

 _We?_ Glynda thought.

'Should we ask James about this?' Glynda had a concerned expression on her face, different from her usual scowls.

He returned to his thinking stance 'I don't think he would tell us'  
Some secrets are meant to remain secrets. _And something tells me not even Ironwood knows about this man._

Glynda looked out of the window and recalled their meeting with Owen.  
'Mr. Crown was a little...different. I entertained the thought of him not being a spy at all, albeit only for a few moments'.

'Even if he is a spy, the information he gave us may still be correct, but we cannot afford to leave our guard down'  
Ozpin took another sip of his coffee and continued.

'There are many unknowns. They may be getting better at concealing their true motives or outright lying or maybe our judgement is getting worse, Glynda'  
'Speaking of bad judgement, we haven't heard much from Qrow lately'  
'I sent him on a special mission, I hope we hear something soon, it worries me'

'What worries you? Qrow, or the mission you sent him after?'  
 _'Both'_

* * *

I am here. This is awesome. _A fanboy kind of awesome._  
Standing in my room is Jaune Arc, a tall blonde who might be brighter than he gets credit for and with a serious case of goofballitis  
Nora Valkyre. Fear her. No matter if you are on her side or against her. Fear her. And prepare for soul-crushing hugs.  
Pyrrha Nikos. The greek goddess with lightspeed reflexes who will hear you out and will always have your back.  
Lie Ren, the misterious, silent and most patient of companions. Words aren't needed if you have trust.

Owen Crown. A completely broken, suitcase swinging, not-a-real-hero, student dropout. _  
Damn, I really have to work on my résumé.  
_

Pyrrha tried to lift my spirits while probably thinking my troubled expression was caused by more serious reasons.  
'Don't worry about tomorrow, you can do it.' Her reassuring smile didn't have the desired effect, to be honest.  
'You cannot know that Pyrrha, he may as well die in the woods after encountering the very first Grimm.  
Or maybe he trips and get smashed by talking stones or gets scorched by burning, dancing trees!'  
'Nora!' Ren facepalmed.  
'Oh, sorry Owen, I'm pretty sure you can do it, I mean, you managed to get into Beacon, right? You cannot be that bad'

At that statement, the concerned look in Jaune's face told Owen a lot of things.  
Jaune probably wasn't scared of them knowing about how he got into Beacon. Not anymore at least. They were his friends.  
He was scared sharing that bit of information with Owen, a total stranger who could betray him to Ozpin.

'Owen?' Pyrrha was worried now. Owen seemed rather anxious and all jittery by the initiation due the next day.

Oh, sorry, I spaced out'

'You were probably thinking of a landing strategy, right?' Jaune assumed.  
'What?' I wanted to ask them about that actually. Maybe they had exaggerated it in the show for dramatic purposes.  
 _Had they?_

Jaune shrugged.'Nevermind'  
He then scratched the back of his head. 'It's usually Ruby who asks this kind of awkward questions, but what weapons do you have?'  
Ruby's weapon fixation seemed to be well known...

'Well, I have a sword and...my suitcase'  
'A suitcase. As a shield?' The incredulous look in Ren's face told me, suitcases weren't used as shields here.  
Unsurprisingly neither did they in my world.

'Exactly. It was more by chance than anything, I got attacked by Grimm and took what I had at hand'  
'Ohhh was it an Ursai? No no no, I bet it was a Beowolf...'  
Ren tapped on the redhead's shoulder, who turned around, bubbly as ever, to her together-not-so-together partner in crime.  
'Nora, I am pretty sure Owen is tired, at least as tired as much as we are. I bet he will tell us his stories another day, now we got to sleep' Ren winked at him, who nodded his thanks.  
Nora listened to Ren's reasoning. She pouted but conceded defeat in the end.

 _Stories about monsters and cat girls will have to wait, Nora,_ Owen thought and felt bad for disappointing her.  
He was glad for Ren's intervention. Indeed, he felt like a walking wreck.  
Maybe being on the edge the whole day had burned off his nerves and exhausted him more than it should have.

He stretched his limbs, fearing they might fall of their sockets and yawned involuntarily.  
'I think I will take the couch then'  
'We could look for an extra bed...' Pyrrha offered.  
'Nah, don't worry. I will talk to Ms. Goodwitch tomorrow. If I survive the initiation, that is. ' Owen grinned.  
Nora gave him two thumbs up and winked.  
Ren and Pyrrha gave him a weak smile, more worried than anything.

They were probably thinking about what would have happened to Jaune if he faced the odds alone back then.  
Jaune himself hadn't fought too bad in the initiation, but the further classes and combat training went, the more concerned they were about his abilities or lack thereof.

Jaune came out of the bathroom, wearing his characteristic onesie and brushing his teeth. 'Shu shd shmthng? Bhtrum s yahrs'  
'No, don't worry Jaune, just tell me when you are done' Owen was perplexed he actually understood what Jaune had meant to say.

One cracking noise outside the room got Owen's attention.  
A moment later, someone knocked on the door.

'Jaune, are you still awake? It's me, Ruby.'  
'Whaibtlagfmhumgl' Owen clearly heard Ren facepalming behind him.  
Jaune took the brush out of his mouth and spoke again, this time also in a language comprehensible for us, human beings.  
'Oh, yeah Ruby, come in'

Ruby, the young and charismatic leader of team RWBY entered the room.  
She was wearing her cute pyjamas and already had a sleepy face.  
'Tomorrow we wanted, well team RWBY wanted to...' At the unusual sight in the room Ruby paused, blinked and rubbed her eyes.

'Uh, you have a visitor?' Her right brow rose up, almost dramatically.  
'Oh yeah, he is the new addition to our team...' Jaune replied.

Ruby's eyes brightened up 'A new member?! That's awesome!'  
Owen offered a hand which Ruby quickly took. 'Ah um, hi, I'm Ruby'  
'Hello Ruby, I am Owen'

'Oh, you got to meet my team...ehm...' she looked to the her closest friends in team JNPR for a silent sign of approval, which came from both Jaune as a smile and from Pyrrha as a subtle nod.

She disappeared into the corridor and crossed to their own room.  
You could still distinguish the voices, as both doors weren't closed

'There is a new guy in team JNPR!'  
Weiss wasn't exactly quiet. 'What!? This late in the middle of the semester? This is unprecedented! Who does he think he is?'  
They could clearly hear Yang's indifferent humph as well.  
Only Blake remained silent or couldn't be heard.

Not even two full seconds after that, Yang was striding into the room and stopped just shy of hers and Owen's noses touching together.

'Hello guys ah girls...erm you know what I mean' Jaune greeted team RWBY, whose entrance had only been given away by the cracking noise in the corridor.  
He shut up quickly at the scene unfolding before them.

Yang seemed surprised 'You?'  
'Me?' Owen was slightly startled but he recognized the pair of liliac eyes he had met earlier.  
At this distance, he was rather sure those were the same, if her surprised look was proof enough.  
'Nevermind. First of all, let me be very clear, if you just look at my little sister the wrong way, you will never experience the joy of being a father'

'Ahm. I'm Owen. And you don't have to worry too much about your little...'  
'Hey' Ruby interjected while pouting.  
Owen continued' ... _younger_ sister, at least not concerning me'

He grinned awkwardly. _Maybe I will get alive out of this, somehow ._

Yang still wasn't sure if this guy would beg for his life or if he was just good at gambling.  
She decided to give him the benefit of doubt and let him live _for now.  
_ But there were still things to be cleared yet. Poking on his chest with one finger, she warned him.  
'Just a reminder Cheesecake, never tell me what I have to do'

After that had sunk in, she offered her hand again and firmly shook Owen's hand once.  
'I'm Yang'  
Owen relaxed a little and an involuntary smile appeared on his face.

'Ruby is my sister and this here is Blake, my partner.' The rest of team RWBY seemed to have slipped into the room while I was fearing for my life, err _talking to Yang_.

'Hello, nice to meet you' she offered Owen her hand and a smile, which was, for Blake, a whole lot.  
Yang was a little confused at her partner's unfamiliar forwardness. She would ask her about that later.

Owen peeked at her bow while he gently shook her hand. Yang noticed him glancing but didn't know what he was looking for.  
How she noticed him looking, you might ask. It's not like she had been looking at his eyes. _Nope. Not at all._

An annoyed sound could be heard from the direction where the Schnee heiress was standing. ' _Hey_ '  
'Oh yes, this is Weiss, my partner', Ruby explained.

The Schnee heiress offered one of her slender hands while cocking her head slightly to the side, a greeting probably inculcated into her since an early age. ' _Sehr erfreut'_  
A German greeting? Let's try some French.  
' _Très enchanté Mademoiselle_ ' Owen bowed and pecked the back of her hand. A gentle kiss.

Weiss was puzzled what to think about this stranger.

 _This guy is well versed in etiquette and speaks foreign tongues?_  
 _ **No**_. _**You are a Schnee**_ **.** _You won't fall for petty dirty tricks.  
_ _ **And he has a scruffy beard.**_

She was trying hard to ignore the unfamiliar, outlandish charm.

Owen was oblivious to Weiss' musings as was most of the group.  
But not Ruby, she was quick to notice the puzzled expression which Weiss could mask most of the time through her _polite scowls_ , as Ruby liked to call them. This time though, she seemed to have lost her usual composure, if just for a tiny moment.

As if needing to explain their sudden appearance or maybe just to think of other things, Weiss cleared her throat and tried to justify themselves.  
'It's not like we were curious, we couldn't let Yang put our reputation at risk, so we followed her'

At the blatant lie, Blake simply rolled her eyes and a small smile appeared on her face.  
Yang simply grinned and shrugged, not even trying to deny the false accusations concerning her.

The sudden silence was interrupted by Jaune, who couldn't stop himself from yawning.  
'Sorry guys, I'm just...*Yawn!*...too tired'

'I don't mind it at all, _Yaaawne_ '  
'Yang! Damn it!'  
Blake loved the puns the blonde brawler usually made but someone had to keep her in line. Who would, if not her?.  
It was difficult though, when everyone was laughing. Even Jaune.  
Weiss faked a cough to hide her laugher.  
Blake saw her and knew that if she asked the heiress, Weiss would probably blame it on the exhaustion.

Ruby smiled. Jaune was right. She was sleepy too.  
The girls bid them goodnight and slowly went back to their room.

* * *

Owen looked at the couch, waiting for him, offering him a well deserved rest.  
He would love something to read. _But this damn suitcase won't open._  
Being honest, he was actually pretty tired.

He went to the bathroom, loosened his tie and was slightly surprised when he grabbed into Myra's bag.  
 _She even packed a new toothbrush for me._

The strange sight of grey baggy jogging pants and a _Grimms & Roses_ T-Shirt confused him.  
He was glad she had put those into the bag, he really had no other change of clothes.  
 _Myra...you didn't..._

She must have packed them before they travelled to Pockety. They were certainly hers, but she didn't mind to share.  
With brushed teeth and a fresh change of clothes, he felt grateful everything had worked out at last.

Before he passed out, he smiled unconciously.  
 _Myra, I owe you one...  
_ She was, indeed, his _guardian angel_ in this world.

Owen fell into a deep slumber on the couch.  
 _Tomorrow awaits._

* * *

 _I know that it seems pointless  
_ _I know that it feels fake  
_ _I know you can't stand the thought of  
_ _Being stray  
_ _One more day_

* * *

 _ **A/N:**_  
This should be the longest A/N ever done. But I will keep it short.

First of all, **thanks for returning**. I know, I had promised this chapter since...March?  
But, although the concept was done a while ago, I couldn't complete it, the other chapters, backstory, [story specific] lore and many other things sucked up my attention and then my newly bought laptop wouldn't work properly.

It turns out, the official updates from the maker made the keyboard useless, deactivating many keys and even the...well...it fuc*ed the laptop.  
Using the usual OEM System restore/factory reset only managed to destroy the OS without posibility of another factory reset. That laptop is awaiting a custom setup for which I haven't had the time yet.  
And I am doing the work of 3 at home. [This bit is censored, why would I want to write that here? XD ]

I hope I will release the 5th chapter in the next couple of days or at most, a week from now.  
Numero 5 was actually quite complete before this one had even taken a real shape.

I am still reformatting and restructuring the earlier chapters, but I wanted to get this chapter out, so I could concentrate the work on the other chapters (earlier and later).

If something is hard to understand, please feel free to point it out.

If you find any blatant errors or grammar sins, please point them out. I usually proofread at ungodly hours.

I have caught myself tearing my hair out after reading some passages I proofread half asleep.  
I prefer private messages, but you may leave a review too. Please, don't crush my soul. Thanks :)

 _By the way, this is the longest chapter I have posted so far, with almost 6500 Words. Whoa._

ps: Almost 70%* of the fic main plot points are actually written. They have been written for months, but fleshing the chapters out and ironing out inconsistencies keeps me busy.  
*Wild Guess.

ps2: As a matter of fact, just as I was finishing this chapter (A/N already written, just proofreading etc),  
I had a memory leak (or overflow, didn't really look into it), but my laptop crashed, bluescreened and reset.  
 _AS THE CHAPTER WAS LITERALLY BEING UPLOADED._ * **FML** *  
That's why I needed a new laptop, this one is already 10 years old and has some random glitches from time to time.

ps3: This is meant to be posted on my profile but as some of you might not see it, I'll do it here as well:  
For most of the chapters, I envisioned certain tracks, background music or simply songs to be listened along. This is in no way something you must do. It is totally up to you.  
Some of those cues were simply 'Working tracks' while I wrote, but they may catch the mood or ambience of the setting.  
If you are curious, here is the link:  
pastebin dot com /55HKWqUY  
[It is WIP, older chapters will be updated after their revision]

ps4: I will most certainly grab my head in the morning and fix some of the formatting errors.  
It turns out, FF won't take some of the formatting.  
I will do what I can while my eyes still work, somehow.

ps5: _Shavranekto, you didn't..._ Thanks mate for all the suggestions and fixes. [Millions of them]


	5. 5 - Companions

_The door closed. A simple soul was brushing her teeth._

It was late, but the girls couldn't sleep right away despite the tiredness.

Ruby was in the bathroom, humming a tune.  
They had just come back from the other side of the corridor, where the former team JNPR lived.  
How would they be called from now on, Ruby asked herself. _JNPRO_? _That sounds really cool._

Weiss was transcribing and sorting some notes from class. Trying hard to concentrate.  
 _Why a transfer in the middle of the semester?_

Blake and Yang were laying on their beds.  
Blake, surprisingly bookless, was waiting for something.  
A question she knew would come sooner or later.

Yang turned to the side so Blake could hear her clearly. She had a thoughtful look on her face.  
'Hey Blake, why were you so forward with this guy, Owen? You..., I mean you even talked to him'

 _There it is._  
Blake didn't move, simply laying on her mattress, a smug smile appearing on her lips.  
Yang was teasing her. She could also play this game, albeit in a more subtle way.  
'Well, you seemed to _know_ him, I just wanted to be polite'

 _Right. I didn't tell her_ 'Yeah, I met him earlier today, he bumped into me'  
She had somehow forgotten to tell her partner about it and felt slightly ashamed of it.  
Yang's cheeks reddened and she was glad Blake couldn't see her right now.

At the revelation, Blake raised an eyebrow, now listening closely to what Yang had to say.  
She had been always fascinated by riddles and when Yang began recalling what had happened earlier that day,  
she felt the dots connect.

* * *

Yang stood up, she couldn't feel her legs anymore. She observed her bookish friend and rolled her eyes.  
She had grown to love her but _sometimes_...  
Blake was reading again in the shadows, reclined against the foot of a tree.  
 _Typical Blake. This girl should loosen up sometimes. Always lost in her world of fantasy..._

With the evident blonde brawler hovering beside her, Blake looked up to her and asked 'What's wrong? Is something bothering you?'

'Nah, I think I'm just gonna take a stroll, stretch the legs, tease a few boys, the usual. It is a beautiful day after all'

'Do you mind if I finish this chapter?'

'Don't worry _Blakey_ ,  
take your time,  
enjoy your book.  
I will come back soon'

Blake lowered her book and a slight twitch of her bow could be seen if you watched closely.  
 _Wait. Was that an Achieve Men song?_ she asked herself when Yang left.

Yang was walking towards the edge of the cliffs, overlooking the lake separating Vale from Beacon.  
Then she noticed a new arrival, gliding out of the clouds  
She spotted the origin on the arrival board.  
 _An airship coming from Patch?_

What was father's advice? _Gotta greet your homies, yo.  
No_. That was uncle Qrow, extremely drunk.  
She shook her head and smiled at the fond if rather awkward memory _._

She lurked around the landing pad and watched the new arrival from the distance.  
Yang was curious. _I might meet someone we know.  
_ The sliding doors opened and a myriad of passengers of different heights, colors and races poured out of the airship.  
 _No, nope, you neither, no, and no, not even in your dreams, Drexler.  
_ All uninteresting people from Patch and one bully from Signal. _Boring._

Wait.

There was a blonde guy in some weird clothes sporting a badly shaven beard.  
 _And wearing a leather jacket._

Bingo, Yang Xiao-Long.

She decided to scare him.  
What was what Jaune always said? There are no strangers, only people you haven't pissed off yet.  
 _No. I think it was not quite like that._

She strode straight towards the newcomer with a smug grin on her face. _  
This must be your lucky day, Cheesecake.  
_ When said person lost balance and almost fell out of the ship, Yang smirked at the clumsiness.

She was about to tap him on the shoulder when he turned around on his own and bumped into her, falling back on his ass.

The stranger quickly got up but appeared to be disorientated.  
He tried to walk a few more steps but then the surprised blonde stopped walking altogether.  
He had a distant look in his eyes and remained completely motionless, what made Yang doubt if the guy was breathing at all.

She tried to communicate with this rare species.  
Yang used her usual charm to break the trance this guy seemed to be in.  
' _Hello?_ Beacon to ... _scruffy beard_ ' Yang waved her hands and smiled at the stranger.  
He seemed quite unresponsive for a grown man.  
Even more so if it was _Yang Xiao Long_ who he was ignoring, that intrigued Yang a _lot_.

 _Maybe he has a concussion...  
_ She quickly dismissed that thought when the newcomer squinted his eyes, looking at her.  
Just as she thought she was making progress, something behind her caught his attention.  
Suddenly the guy was alive again.  
'Oh, I'm sorry. I am in a hurry, excuse me' He woke up from the trance, stood up and walked past her, mindlessly.

Yang was perplexed. _Excuse me?  
_ Only ...how were those called? ...Zombies or Weregrimm would show no reaction at that kind of teasing and those existed only in the movies. _Right?  
Some of those movies are forbidden, even. _An imaginary Weiss reminded her. _  
_  
She returned her gaze to the blonde stranger who was striding right towards... _Was that Professor Port?_  
Yang could recognize the rambling self-centered moustache from the distance.

It was decided. There were only so much sacrifices you could make for a good teasing, but this was too much.  
 _Sorry bearded Cheesecake, I'm_ _ **so**_ _not going that way. No more bumping into eachother for shit and giggles._

Yang turned around and walked back to the Academy with more questions on her mind than before.  
 _Why did he seem surprised?  
And why was he so absent? Did I hurt him?_

Heh, it wouldn't be the first boy I've stunned, but there was something else...

I think he likes me.

She smiled to no one particularly.  
Yang approached the tree where Blake still sat reading. _  
_  
Blake noticed her and stood up, closing her book. 'Let's go back, it's getting late'  
Yang simply nodded.  
 _Odd,_ thought Blake. _She is rarely this quiet. Something is on her mind.  
_

* * *

'Yeah, I bumped into him earlier today'  
Yang was deep in thought reminiscing when Blake decided to burst her bubble.

'Really Yang? ...wait...was it _intentional_?' Blake raised her brow and tilted her head so she could look up to Yang.

 _Shit  
_ 'Are you saying I run into people _on purpose_? Yang looked down from her bunk bed to Blake

Weiss, who had been listening quietly from her desk, turned her head attentively  
and she eyed the blonde brawler with squinted eyes.

Weiss shook her head and quipped a single word.  
' _Guilty_ '

Yang turned her head to the Heiress - newly self appointed Judge - and gave her an overly exaggerated dirty look, which Weiss knew was just in jest. Yang crossed her arms dismissively.  
'You are no fun, _**Snow Angel**_ ''

' _Ugh_ , don't remind me of that' Weiss shivered, showing a wry expression on her face when she remembered Jaune's sweet but awkward advances.  
'We all know the only one who hits people accidentally is Ruby' She added as an afterthought.

A high pitched ' _Heey_ ' came from inside the bathroom.  
Ruby leant on the doorframe, using her big puppy eyes and pouting face for greater effect.  
The girls were able to tune out Ruby's most effective weapon only thanks to daily practice since their initiation.

Blake spoke next. 'There is no point in denying it Yang, we know you like to tease boys.  
A unusually smug grin appeared in Blake's face before she caught herself.  
She muttered under her breath ' _I am sure you'd like to tease some pretty girls too_ '

* * *

 _Cozy. Fuzzy. Warm. **Perfect.  
**_ Owen knew he would have to get up at some point but he wanted to stretch the blissful moment as long as possible.  
It was decided. As soon as it was widely accepted, he would marry that couch.

Slowly, he opened his eyes. Still in a drowsy state, he wondered why everything was so... _orange_?  
He jerked up, only to hit Nora with his head.  
' _Owww_ '  
'Yep. He is up now' Nora rubbed her forehead, giggling.  
'Nora, I told you to leave him some space' Ren shook his head while he smoothed the sheets of his bed.  
Ren couldn't suppress the hint of a smile completely, Nora always managed to do that to him.

'Good morning, sleepyhead' Nora grinned and stood proud in her aerobics attire, having finished her morning routine recently.  
'Hi Nora. How come you have no headache?'  
'After playing and experimenting with Magnhild for a few years you will manage to hit yourself a couple of times'  
'Yourself _and_ your friends...' Ren corrected her, not looking away from Stormflower while he inspected the inner workings.

Nora simply shrugged and continued 'Owen, you might be headstrong, but you still are a lightweight'  
...'You mean it didn't hurt much to you?'  
Nora nodded and her eyes brightened up.  
She had an idea.  
'I know _exactly_ what you need to wake you up'  
'Besides _concussions_? Shoot'  
A big inviting grin appeared on Nora's face.  
'Do you want some pancakes?'  
That sounded like a _delicious_ offer he couldn't refuse.  
'Sure. Why, do you have any?'  
'No, but if you ready up, I'm pretty sure we can still get some at the cafeteria'  
'How can you be so sure?' Owen was curious, to say at least.  
Jaune chuckled in the background while he laced his shoes 'Because _nobody_ dares to hit her stash before she does'

~~~•∞•≈•≤ ≥•≈•∞•~~~~~~•∞•≈•≤ ≥•≈•∞•~~~~~~•∞•≈•≤ ≥•≈•∞•~~~~~~•∞•≈•≤ ≥•≈•∞•~~~

After brushing his teeth and taking a quick shower, Owen followed his new teammates to the cafeteria,  
where he got whole five pancakes just for himself.  
Nora was being very kind.  
He reconsidered. _The pancakes will probably come with a price_ , he thought.  
But he didn't care.

Owen just wished he had a jar of _Nutell_...  
'Oh hi Owen!' His thoughts were put to an end when he heard Ruby greet him.  
He turned around to see Team RWBY had just entered the cafeteria.

After gathering their breakfast, which in case of Ruby consisted mostly of milk and cookies, Ruby and her team joined the others at the table.  
Weiss and Ruby sat down facing Jaune and Pyrrha while Yang and Blake faced Owen, Nora and Ren.

Reserved but curious, Weiss inquired politely 'So Owen, how are you fitting in?'  
'Oh, great, everyone has been very kind and friendly to me' Owen replied.

Jaune tried to take part in the conversation, nearly choking on the sandwich he was munching.  
Pyrrha noticed his struggle and reacting quickly, slapped him twice on the back.  
'Thanks Pyrrha' Jaune whispered, after gasping for air.

Pyrrha shook her head. 'Jaune, just finish up before you speak'  
 _Whenever he is not in the battlefield, he acts before he thinks.  
_ She sighed with a small smile and turned around to face Ruby. _  
_  
'Owen has to go through initiation after breakfast' Pyrrha explained to Ruby in place of Jaune.

Ruby recalled their initiation fondly. 'Whew, that was lots of fun. I'm pretty sure you will have some fun too'  
Then a thought occurred to Ruby which made her raise an eyebrow. 'Who will be joining you?'  
'Ehm...I...don't know? I think it will be just me' Owen shrugged.  
' _Oh_ ' Ruby swallowed hard. _Not so fun then.  
_  
Ruby looked to Weiss, who seemed well versed in rules, legal matters and all those things Ruby found excruciatingly boring. _  
_'Is that fair or ...even allowed?' Ruby asked her with a worried look.  
'Of course it is, there are no rules set for initiations, at least not in Beacon' Weiss quickly quipped.  
'It still sounds extreme' This time, it was Ren talking, who had enjoyed his breakfast in silence so far.  
Blake didn't find it excessive but then again when she thought of her own background and experience,  
the initiation was still a challenge, even more so on your own.

'I only want to get through it with all my limbs attached. That would be nice'  
Owen tried to make light of it to alleviate the worries of his mates.

Both teams jumped when Nora, rising to her feet and smashing her fists down, almost knocked over the table.  
'Ren, we cannot let him get broken, I like him'  
'Don't worry Nora, we could go and watch his progress after classes'  
Nora nodded excitedly, gulping down another handful of pancakes while beaming to Owen.

 _I'm not quite sure how she does that_ , Owen thought silently about Nora's pancake annihilating abilities until Ruby's voice brought him back to the present.  
'Yeah, all of us could go watch Owen's initiation after classes, what do you say team?' Ruby asked in the round.  
'Sure, why not' Blake said, only her Bow sticking out behind her book.  
Weiss thought of all homework and readings she could get done in the time but after seeing the excited look in Ruby's face,  
she gave up, rolled her eyes and smiled. 'Yes, whatever'

'We will come too' Jaune and Pyrrha grinned at him.

'I'm glad to hear so many people enjoy watching my life of suffering, guys' Owen held his arms up in defeat, letting out a chuckle.

He felt a mighty slap on the back which almost knocked him over.'Don't be a puss, you'll rock it'  
Was Yang being supportive or had she just tried to murder him?  
 _Hard to tell._

Owen smirked and looked around the table.  
 _It didn't take long to make friends._  
 _I must give Ozpin that._

~~~•∞•≈•≤ ≥•≈•∞•~~~~~~•∞•≈•≤ ≥•≈•∞•~~~~~~•∞•≈•≤ ≥•≈•∞•~~~~~~•∞•≈•≤ ≥•≈•∞•~~~

Owen was about to stand up after finishing the pancakes when he got a glass shoved into his face.  
 _It is Orange._ Orange juice?  
A dark, thick voice commanded 'Drink up hunter, you'll need the strength'  
The voice suddenly changed pitch to an, in comparison, extremely girly one 'Was that good, Rennie?'  
Ren shook his head chuckling 'I think you scared him, Nora'  
Owen took the glass and gulped the tasty drink in one go. He grinned at Nora's proud expression after he did so.  
 _It tasted weird though,_ Owen wondered what kind of oranges grew on Remnant.

After the teams had gathered the dishes and brought their trays back to the counter, Owen glanced at his wrist watch.  
It read 7:25.  
Provided the watch was working at all, he should hurry.

Having noticed the time as well, Jaune motioned for Owen to tag along, the rest of his team following closely behind.

Owen heard Ruby shouting and wishing him luck in the background while the rest of team RWBY waved or, in the case of Yang, stood proud with her hands on her hips.

After team JNPR had wished Owen good luck and rushed to class, Glynda did not take long to arrive.

'Quite a following you got there', she addressed Owen, mildly surprised and obviously amused.  
 _Is she trying to make me relax?  
_ Owen shrugged _'_ What can I say, Ozpin was right'  
At this remark, Glynda raised an eyebrow  
Another thought occurred Owen. 'Will Ozpin oversee the initiation?'  
'Yes, but he will attend the initiation later' Glynda answered, motioning for him to follow her.

* * *

Glynda and Owen arrived at the cliff overlooking Emerald Forest  
She motioned for him to step forward. 'Please step unto the launchpad, Mr. Crown'  
'Just call me Owen' _If I get her to say my name just once before I die, I'll be happy._

Glynda noticed the nervousness in his eyes.  
 _He wouldn't be the first to show fear during an initiation launch_ , she thought.  
Glynda made an rare, motherly expression and tried to encourage Owen.  
'I get that you might be scared, _Owen_ , but...'  
 _...She said it! ...I will die now, right?_ Owen thought to himself, half jokingly.  
'Scared? I am excited!' Owen grinned for Goodwitch but he was mentally shitting his pants.

'Do you have any questions before we begin?' Glynda inquired in her more usual, business-like tone.  
'How do I know if I passed the initiation?' He asked, hoping for more hints.  
'The Headmaster and I will come to pick you up when you are done'

 _No special requirements?_ Owen was delighted.  
 _On a second thought, it sounds easy._ _ **Too easy**_ , he thought. _  
_  
'Anything else you want to tell me?' He asked Glynda one last time.  
'Be prepared for anything and good luck'  
'Thanks, Miss Goodwitch'  
He knew he had forgotten to ask something. _What was it? Damn it Owen, you are getting old._

Those were his final thoughts before the unconventional candidate was propelled into the wilderness of Remnant.  
Glynda just watched as Owen trashed about in the air, trying to regain his balance.

She didn't have much doubts in what to expect from this initiation.  
But she still had one small, selfish request.  
 _Please, don't die._

* * *

Owen was zipping above the treetops when he remembered...  
 _A landing strategy, that's what I forgot._  
 _Damn it Jaune, why did you change topics yesterday?_

There was no time for facepalming.  
He positioned himself on top of his suitcase, banking it and hoping that he could avoid cuts from the branches by doing so.  
When he saw a wide trunk drawing near directly in front of him, he took out Apollo and unfolded it.  
Just a blink away from crashing into the trunk, he rammed the sword with all his strength into it, managing to stop his momentum and get a hold onto the tree.

Despite his initial descent, Owen was still hanging quite high above the ground.  
When he spotted a couple of wide branches below him, he hugged the tree firmly and yanked his sword out of the wooden log.  
Owen then let go of the trunk and landed on one of the branches.  
Without stopping, he got a grip onto the next one and from there he swung down to a wider branch.  
Which broke under his weight.

He would have to improvise.  
Owen managed to touch the tree with his foot, pushing himself away from it and crouching into a roll which dampened the fall considerably.  
Still, the landing was hard but he was glad he didn't really hurt himself in the process.

Owen checked himself for any injuries and was pleased to find only small scratches in his hands, nothing serious.  
His leather jacket and jeans had helped avoiding most of the scratches.

After standing up, Owen dusted off his clothes and observed his surroundings.  
 _No immediate danger. I shouldn't let my guard down, though._

A few meters away from Owen stood Apollo in its sword form, sticking out of the ground.  
Owen had lost the grip of it when he crouched into the roll.  
 _Next time I should let it fold back into the coin before jumping._

They hadn't given him a clear mission, they just expected him to _survive_.  
Surviving meant killing every Grimm he encountered.  
They didn't give Owen any clues about the Grimm he would be fighting, but that seemed to be the case in previous initiations.  
Owen decided to go offensively and strike those hiding first.

He walked towards the center of the forest, or at least where he thought the center would be.  
There, on the side of a large boulder, he spotted a cavern which looked very familiar to him.  
It was where Jaune and Pyrrha had found the Death Stalker.  
Owen entered the cramped, wet and creepy cave and was glad his scroll had a flashlight.  
After a while of careful exploration, he decided to descend further. Owen was sure he had already passed the spot where the Death Stalker had been, as it seemed impossible for such a big monster to fit through the tunnels further ahead.

The cave widened and he noticed a big chamber, so big he couldn't illuminate the whole cavern with his small flashlight.  
Something moved in the shadows and it dawned on him then.  
Owen froze. Those weren't shadows.  
 _It was f_ _ **ur.**_

 **I** nside the chamber, just in front of him, there was a giant Grimm.  
Owen was really thankful the Grimm was facing the opposite way. The beast must have been at least two stories high.  
He decided a more _defensive_ plan of action would be more fitting in this situation.  
Owen slowly withdrew back into the tunnels, glad the Grimm hadn't spotted him.

Just when he thought he was out of earshot of the beast, a Creep Grimm emerged from nowhere.  
 _Shit. I had forgotten those._  
The Creep had bursted out of the earth and effectively blocked his only way out.

In the dim light coming from the outside, Owen pondered what to do.  
Turning around and going back was plain suicide, at least in such a confined space.

The Creep stood on his only two appendages, having a small stump as a tail with which he could maintain his balance and it had a small protuberance instead of a nose, a horn so to speak.  
 _I should avoid that end,_ Owen considered just as the Creep lunged forward, surprising Owen.  
The Grimm would have tackled him to the ground if not for the slippery surface of the wet rocks.  
Owen had tumbled backwards involuntarily.  
 _In retrospective, I could have done a backward roll, but hindsight is always perfect._

After a few dodges, Owen rolled again to the side before the small monster impacted into his shoulder.  
 _When and most importantly,_ _ **why**_ _did I put Apollo away?_  
He took the coinsword out of its pouch and confronted the incoming beast.  
 _  
_Jumping back, Owen had more room to move and managed to cut the Creep below the bony face,  
only making it more aggressive.  
The two legged monster pounced at him and managed to hit Owen in the ribcage.  
It hurt like hell, but nothing was broken. _Aura is a wonderful thing,_ he thought.

Owen was left sitting on his rear after the Grimm had charged him.  
Then the Creep happened to lose its footing, slipping on the rocks and when it stood up, it was standing sideways to Owen.  
Losing no time, Owen swept his sword under the small Grimm and cut its tail off, before it managed to attack him again.

Thankfully, the small Creep didn't have much bony armor yet underneath.  
Without his balancing appendage, it stumbled for a moment and finally fell headlong to the ground.  
 _I was aiming for the knees. I guess I won't complain._  
Owen didn't lose any time and plunged the sword into its skull, killing the Creep instantly.

 _Is it dead? Do they die or are those already dead?_  
A different voice answered in his head. _You are overthinking things, Owen._  
Since when did my concience have Myra's voice?, he wondered.

Owen didn't have much time to assess his own mental state when he heard a loud rumbling coming from underground, from the chamber he just had escaped from.  
Owen gulped and deduced the giant Grimm must have heard the fight.  
 _I gotta get out of here._

After Owen reached the sunlight again and the rumbling sound had receded to the background, he stopped for some air and thought about the small beast he had just encountered.  
 _Is it that why they call them Creeps?_  
A small smile appeared on Owen's face.

 _Yes. I should check my head.  
_ The fact that he was grinning like an idiot while surrounded by a whole forest full of murderous beasts wasn't lost on him.  
Owen shook his head and walked back into the forest again.  
He couldn't spot the cliff he had jumped off, but he had a feeling he was going the right way.

* * *

Ozpin watched deep in thought over the cliff, occasionally looking at his scroll.  
His scroll showed Owen's position and vitals. The Aura gauge seemed to have malfunctioned after Owen was struck in the chest by the Creep.  
Ozpin decided he would rather watch the video feed in the evening, with a cup of steaming hot, recently made coffee.

Glynda wondered if they weren't being too harsh on the new guy this time.  
Other than the usual initiations, they hadn't given him any specific mission,  
what meant he would have to survive until they decided it was enough.

Ozpin turned his attention to her, speaking up after observing the progress in silence for nearly an hour before.  
'Glynda, if he cannot prove himself against a such simple threats,  
how could he protect my students in case of overwhelming odds?'  
He wasn't expecting an answer, just stating a point.

Ozpin knew her very well too, she admitted to herself.

In any case, she wouldn't call Owen's initiation simple, not even for a student of second or third year.  
But she understood Ozpin's view on the matter, even if she didn't agree.

The Emerald Forest wasn't really big, but any false step could end in death for a freshman.  
This stranger was still not much more than an inexperienced student, they usually sent them to the fight in groups.  
 _I must be getting soft_ , she thought, gently rubbing her temples.

She silently nodded to Ozpin and looked at her wristwatch while she adjusted her glasses.  
It was already 3:40pm.

* * *

After having wandered around for a while, Owen came to a clearing.  
He spotted old ruins he instantly recognized.  
It was the place where the teams had found their totems, which decided what pairs would form a team.

This time the ruins were empty.  
He had been assigned to team JNPR already and Ozpin probably deemed a partner to be an unnecessary burden that might distract him from his mission goals.

Owen stepped forward and looked around for clues in the ruins .  
 _Maybe Ozpin hid something for me anyway._

While walking around the long forsaken building, he was pretty sure he had heard something.  
After the third time hearing it, he stopped walking altogether and paid attention to his surroundings.  
 _There is it again. Wait. Is that ...a ...flapping noise?  
_  
A loud and ear-splitting screech caught his attention.  
Owen looked up just in time to avoid being devoured by a Nevermore.  
He rolled to the side, crouched and held his sword up, hoping it would kill the looming beast.  
It worked. The Nevermore's momentum was enough for the sword to pierce the feathers and skin.  
Owen felt a flash of pain go through his arm, the impact of the heavy beast translated to his nerves.

He was quite disappointed when it became clear the damage dealt to the beast wasn't enough to kill it.  
It was a rather small Nevermore but they had always seemed difficult to kill, without even taking their size into account.

Owen quickly seized his sword from the Nevermore, jumping away from it.  
He decided to run back into the forest, where the trees and branches were dense enough to discourage the feathered nightmare material from following him.

While he ran, Owen realized his mistake and suppressed the urge to growl in anger.

Grimm didn't reason like other beings, Grimm were only interested in killing, even disregarding their own life.  
At least that's what the dumb, inexperienced ones did.  
The recklessness of the cursed bird became clearly evident when the Nevermore broke through the tree branches and began tackling smaller trunks to the sides with ease, rapidly closing the distance to its prey.

Owen arrived at a dead end, two big rocks blocking his path.  
When he turned around, the Nevermore was almost within arm's reach.  
Owen winced at the sight. _I'm screwed._  
The winged beast was bigger than he remembered or maybe it was the increasing fear that made him aware of its real size, Owen realized.

The Grimm tried to snatch his head with its beak, but Owen rolled away, dodging the attack in the last possible second.

Having already seen how brainless and straightforward the winged Grimm could act, Owen decided to take a risk.  
He hopped from side to side, circling around the beast until he wasn't trapped against a wall.

After a few close calls, he managed to lead the Nevermore into the corner.  
Not actually believing he could hold the beast off on that spot for long, Owen ran at it, ducked just before being eaten alive and used his momentum to climb up the rocky wall besides it, managing to get a hold onto a branch nearby and doing a flip in the air, landing on the Nevermore.  
As soon as Owen had a grip on the Nevermore, he crawled forward as quickly he could.  
Owen was about to make an incision into the beast's skull when he was startled and almost fell off the giant bird as it rose to the skies.

For a moment, he entertained the thought of riding the raven black monstrosity to the edge of the cliff,  
a sentiment the Nevermore didn't seem to share.

The winged Grimm lashed at him with his clawed wings, banking everytime it tried to snatch him,  
making the ride very rough and clumsy.

While he always ducked in the right moment, Owen couldn't dodge every slash from the Nevermore.  
Failing to throw off the human from its back, the cursed bird tried to tear off his head with the beak.

The beast looked directly at him and judging from the vile look, Owen realized he would have to kill it, no matter how. Running was not an option.  
Owen decided after some deliberation that the easier ride home wasn't worth the risk.

After some of his jabs missed, Owen managed to deal considerable damage to the Nevermore, slicing his sword along two of the beast's eyes, rendering the beast blind on one side.

The now furious bird -its blinding rage almost palpable- dove repeatedly in a final attempt to shake Owen off its back.  
The Nevermore seemed far more experienced dealing with enemies in the air than on the ground, which made sense to Owen. Its foolish moves on the ground were an obvious proof of inexperience.  
Grimm were dumb but could learn in time.

In one of the dives Owen lost his hold and he did, without thinking, the only possible thing to get a firm hold onto the beast.  
He rammed the sword into the skull of the beast, just below its bony armor.  
The attack drove the bird insane and made it soar high to the skies again.  
Owen barely kept the hold on his sword after the sudden change of direction

The scruffy bearded flyboy formerly known as Owen knew that jumping off the Nevermore before he killed it was out of the question.  
He was certain the Nevermore would rip him apart before he touched the ground.  
There was only one option.

Cutting the head of the beast in mid-flight wouldn''t be one of Owen's brightest ideas, but he was out of time and the beast kept climbing higher every passing minute.  
 _Baby steps, Owen, baby steps_ , he thought, trying to calm himself down. _  
_He wrenched his sword repeatedly to the side, applying as much force as he could with every pull.  
The Nevermore let out a piercing cry and died instantly when Owen managed to severe the already damaged spine with one of his yanks.  
The cry being just the reflex of a beast already gone.

Owen was glad he would have at least something soft to land on.  
Just a moment later though, the Nevermore began dissolving into dust and smoke.  
 _Fuck my life._

Owen looked down and saw he was rushing to the trees and rocks below him.  
He flipped in the air and quickly unstrapped his suitcase from his back.

 _Laugh towards death and it might laugh with you._ Sarcasm is always valid in case of imminent death, he thought.  
 _ **Please stow your tray tables and put your seats in the upright position...**_ _  
_ _ **This will be a rough landi...**_

~~~•∞•≈•≤ ≥•≈•∞•~~~~~~•∞•≈•≤ ≥•≈•∞•~~~~~~•∞•≈•≤ ≥•≈•∞•~~~~~~•∞•≈•≤ ≥•≈•∞•~~~

 _Wind, the rustling of leaves,_ _ **an incredible headache.**_  
Owen wasn't quite sure which one of the three had woken him, but it meant he was still alive.  
It had been a pretty nasty crash. His elbow felt strange and he was pretty sure some of the rocks had splintered into his head. He felt that way at least.  
 _Wildest kind of rodeo I've ever been in.  
_  
Owen wanted to take a look at his Aura level.  
Searching his pockets for the scroll, he realized that he had landed on top of it.  
The device had broken into many pieces, strewn between him and his suitcase.  
' _For dust's sake, this scroll was new!_ ' Not even changing _**universes**_ would fix the always recurring curse.

Now he was cut off from the outside world _and_ had a throbbing head.  
 _Wonderful, just wonderful._

Still a little disoriented by the headlong fall, he wandered through the forest when a thought occured him.  
 _Did I just say_ _ **for dust's sake**_ _? Just how hard did I fall?_

He was pretty sure he would have died thrice if it wasn't for his suitcase, Aura and luck.  
Probably even the scroll had dampened the fall somewhat.

Owen kept walking, wandering through the woods, trying to find a way back to the launchpads.  
His headache was already receding and the elbow felt much better but he was worried, it was getting pretty late

Owen stepped out of the treeline and the trees gave way to a glade.  
He had a good look at the cliff where the initiation started but it was still far away.  
Owen sighed but something had caught his attention.  
The silence; something wasn't right.

Growing uneasy by the minute, Owen realized he was being watched.  
A man was standing along the treeline, at the other side of the glade.

The moment the unknown man stepped out of the shadows, Owen was certain. This man had no intentions to bring him back to Vale.

The stranger looked familiar, but Owen couldn't quite place him.  
He was blond, muscular and tall, at least taller than him.

 _Wait a minute..._  
He had seen this man only once before, but his brain made the connection instantly.  
His eyes widened as he realized it was _Taiyang Xiao-Long_ who was standing in front of him.

The arms of Taiyang were angled to the side, while his legs were tense and glued to the ground.  
His stance was one of _combat_.  
It was most likely Ozpin's sincere way to tell him he would be fighting other persons as well, not only Grimm.

He had been given no instructions what to do in this case.  
Like a real situation, with no clues and cut from any reinforcements, he would have to decide alone how to proceed.  
 _Use your brain, weigh your chances.  
_  
Taiyang seemed to be waiting for the student to commence the attack.

Owen chuckled, he was really glad it wasn't Qrow he would be fighting.  
But he still had no idea how Taiyang fought, his style or even his weapons.

Owen decided he would force Taiyang to change his strategy, he would wait and let Taiyang grow impatient.  
Maybe Taiyang would reveal involuntarily his next course of action.

Owen began to ponder about Taiyang being a teacher at Signal, it made sense somewhat.  
Taiyang was an experienced fighter, probably exceptionally skilled, a fatherly figure and the embodiment of patience.  
That's why Owen didn't expect him to attack so soon.

A fist flew, grazing his nose, Owen had barely managed to jump back.  
 _So Taiyang is a brawler too? Or maybe he is just playing with me?_

Taiyang was incredibly fast, his fists a blur, a deadly blur.  
Most of the punches hit Owen before he even knew what was happening.  
He learned to fight the barrage of punches and kicks in a painful but effective way.  
Getting hit first, jumping back and from that point on, he never stopped dodging.

After Owen thought he was getting an idea of Taiyang's attacks, Taiyang swooped the feet under him and Owen should have fallen on the face if he hadn't remembered his previous mistake with the Creep.  
Owen used the momentum of the fall and managed to do a _backward roll.  
_ Taiyang seemed to enjoy the fact his opponent wasn't giving up yet.

~~~•∞•≈•≤ ≥•≈•∞•~~~~~~•∞•≈•≤ ≥•≈•∞•~~~~~~•∞•≈•≤ ≥•≈•∞•~~~~~~•∞•≈•≤ ≥•≈•∞•~~~

Owen was having difficulty breathing. _What the hell is this?_  
 _Are those Taiyang's weapons? Speed, kicks and fists?_  
He is the father of Ruby and Yang, no question.  
If Owen had ever seen a breakdancer doing Taekwondo, it would be this guy. _Holy shit._

He was fast, really fast, but Owen could sense Taiyang was holding back.

Either way, Owen knew he was slowly running out of options, he felt his Aura dipping lower with every hit.

 _There has to be a way to surprise Taiyang somehow._

Owen had been stopping most of the blows with his shins and arms so far.  
And they hurt. _Badly._ But even that wouldn't work much longer.  
Owen backed away and took his coin out of a pouch, unfolding the blade.  
This time Owen decided to put his suitcase to good use as well.

Taiyang had kept hitting Owen, never stopping. He had been told to put the student under stress to observe how he reacted.  
When Owen jumped back and took something out which materialized into a sword right out of his hand, Taiyang grinned _So this is his weapon._ Taiyang wondered how the student would use it _._  
The same student also unstrapped a _...is that a suitcase?_ Taiyang raised a brow.

Owen swung the sword couple of times at the blonde brawler, not really bothering to hit him hard.  
It was just to keep his ruse going.  
Owen backed away once more, luring Taiyang closer.

Taiyang kept an eye out for the sword.  
His own Aura was getting low as well.  
Owen's sword had managed to connect a few times, not really harming Taiyang but it was still enough to keep slicing down his Aura at a steady pace.

When Taiyang closed the distance, it was Owen who attacked first, his sword held high, coming down one handed in a slashing motion.

Taiyang was already too close to evade the attack completely.

Despite being attacked, Taiyang grinned at the rookie move.  
 _At least he is shielding himself with that suitcase. The guy is not a complete beginner, but he still has a lot to learn,_ Taiyang thought for himself.  
He knew he could stop the sword with both arms and then neutralize the guy for good, but it had to be quick.

In an unexpected move, the student in front of him twisted the blade on its own axis and the sword came down flat.

Taiyang widened his eyes and realized that if he tried to catch the blade from the sides like he had intended, it would tear his hands and arms open.

He quickly crossed his arms to stop the sword without cutting himself and then he became aware that he had been played.  
The student wasn't shielding himself anymore.

In a blur, Owen swung the suitcase directly to Taiyang's head before the blonde brawler could react and avoid the blow.  
Taiyang's arms were still down after being hit by the blade and while he tried to raise them, it was too late.  
The suitcase hit him with full force

Taiyang stumbled to the ground, his Aura finally hitting the red.  
He knew that, in reality, it would still take a good beating until he would go down for good, but if the dizziness was any sign,  
he shouldn't be taking another hit to the head.

It had been an all-or-nothing attack, but it had worked, Taiyang hadn't expected it.  
Owen offered a hand to the brawler and pulled him up.

Taiyang nodded his thanks and then raised both arms up in defeat. "Good one, you win"  
'Yeah, but you were holding back' Owen quickly noted.

 _He noticed?_ Taiyang had the slight feeling, Ozpin had played him as well, not telling him the whole story.

This new student seemed to be better than he should have. But Taiyang wasn't a sore loser.  
'Still, there has to be yet one of my students who beat me this fast...  
There is one or two who could, but they refuse to fight me'  
 _Owen was pretty sure of who Taiyang meant.  
_  
'If your attack had failed though, you'd be in deep trouble' Taiyang continued.  
'I know, that is why I risked it, I was already in trouble' Owen grinned and shrugged.

'Heh, why does this remind me of someone...' Taiyang thought of a particular partner of his.

Owen looked around and shrugged  
'So...what now?'  
'Let's wait for Oz and Stoneheart' Taiyang quickly quipped.  
'Who...ah...' Owen realized who he meant, although she only had been _really_ evil once to him.  
 _So Glynda was already in the school back then. She seems a lot younger_ , Owen contemplated.

Rubbing his temple, Taiyang smirked and addressed Owen 'What do you have in there anyway, rocks?'  
'As a matter of fact, I have yet to manage opening it.  
The lock mechanism blocked a while ago and I forgot what was inside' Owen answered, as sincerely he could.  
'I'm pretty sure it's rocks' Taiyang grinned, still rubbing his temple.

' _Finally someone who can kick this showoff's piece of butt_ ' came from the woods.  
Both Taiyang and Owen turned around quite surprised, only to see their favorite drunkard bow at them and,  
in almost the same motion, take a sip of his throat burning beverage.

He simply introduced himself as 'Qrow'  
until Taiyang crossed his arms and smirked.

 _Guess the kiddo's got his respect. Ok. Ok._ Qrow observed Taiyang's annoyed reaction and decided to be an ass. If just a little.  
'Branwen, Qrow Branwen, at your disposal' He bowed deeply, mocking both blondes.

'Don't be a jerk, Qrow'

'And this is yours truly, Taiyang Xiao-Long. Brawler, breakdancer and ladies man, all in one' he motioned for the blonde.  
He wouldn't reveal more than that, at least for now.

'Be grateful he was unarmed, otherwise, you would have had some trouble, Kiddo'  
Before Taiyang could argue about his weapon choice, Qrow continued.  
'...because the only real weapon he has ever carried was _me_ '

'So you. _..carried him?_ ' Owen smirked at Taiyang, who only facepalmed, having been played by both Qrow and a stranger in just one day. _And Ozpin._

'Oh, where are my manners. I am Crown, Owen Crown' He approached the two hunters.

'Glad to meet you, Owen' Taiyang offered a hand while Qrow politely nodded while keeping some distance, as if he was expecting something to happen. Always on guard.

Qrow had for once actually read the report Ozpin had sent him, so he knew Owen's name already and some other things Ozpin had mentioned in the report.  
Qrow was officially on a mission but Ozpin preferred to maintain him well informed in case of eventualities.  
They still hadn't figured out who this Owen was or why he was spying on the school. Or if his claims were true.  
Qrow was intrigued as this whole mess could very well involve his own mission.

Taiyang seemed puzzled by Qrow's sudden appearance until something clicked in his head and he relaxed,  
chuckling to himself.  
'So you _were_ watching my back?' He pointed accusatorily to Qrow.

'Sure thing, every time you concentrate on your students, grimm sneak behind your back and I have to save your ass.  
I couldn't let you both get eaten. I'd be grounded forever otherwise' Qrow quickly quipped.  
 _Yang would probably kill me if I let her dad get eaten,_ but Qrow wouldn't tell them that.  
 _...Ruby would forgive me...probably..._

'You have been fighting amateur kids for so long already, you forgot there are some who can kick ass', he explained.  
Qrow was quick to discourage Owen when he noticed the grin on his face,  
'Don't get your hopes up _flyboy_ , I wasn't talking about you'  
The nickname surprised Owen. _How? Had Qrow seen me riding the Nevermore?  
_  
Qrow was there to protect them. Or maybe to stop Owen if he tried to kill Taiyang.  
 _Probably both_ , Owen thought in silence until Qrow chugged from his flask, an action that prompted another question from Owen.

'Are you always drinking?' He asked Qrow awkwardly.  
Qrow chuckled, a furrowed brow on his face.  
'Not always, I also sleep sometimes' Qrow responded, without even blinking.  
Owen smiled at the remark, oblivious to his slip up.

But Qrow _had noticed_.  
He knew he hadn't met Owen before, so how did he know about his little passion? _This kid knows more than he lets on._  
 _Or...maybe he just... It was just my flask, not everyone carries one. Right?_ Qrow wasn't so sure anymore.

* * *

 _How can someone be so egocentric and boring at the same time_ , Weiss would likely never know the answer.  
What she did know was what they would be doing as soon as the class was over.

Weiss Schnee huffed and looked at the clock.  
She recalled the first time they attended to Port's class.

There had been still lots of tension between her and Ruby back then.  
Mostly because of Ruby's appointment as leader and her own frustration but it was luckily a thing of the past now.  
Despite Ruby's age and usual childish demeanor, she had proven her qualities as quick thinker and she had shown her worth as selfless leader many times.

 _Five minutes had passed._

After some weeks, Ruby's behaviour in Port's class had made more and more sense.  
She had been rubbing off on Weiss and Weiss was fully aware of that.

Weiss looked to the side, where Blake looked -to the untrained eye- quite interested in class.  
But Weiss wasn't just _anybody_. She knew Blake better than that.  
If you observed carefully, you would notice Blake was reading from the textbook laying in front of her.  
Or rather the filthy excuse for a novel laying on top of that.

 _Twelve minutes passed._

Yang had her sunglasses on, which most likely meant she had passed out long ago.  
She had the innate ability to rest her head on her palms without collapsing and seemed not only interested in Port's class, but also came across as _flirtatious_.  
 _I don't know how she manages to do that while sleeping._

 _Twenty eight minutes passed._

The only ones who seemed to really pay attention were Ren and Pyrrha, though she doubted Ren was fully concentrated with Nora's constant shenanigans and sketchy notes.

 _Thirty two minutes passed._

Jaune was trying desperately to write down everything Port's storytelling was trying to convey until Port clarified to rather no one in particular that the next exam would be about a completely different topic.  
At this revelation, Jaune's head slammed remarkably hard against his notebook, waking up Yang from her slumber, _two rows further away._

She was startled and her head fell through/between her palms, almost hitting the table before she regained consciousness. _  
_'Whaaa. ...'  
'Yes, Ms. Xiao-Long?'  
For a small fraction of a second, Yang Xiao-Long looked like a deer-in-headlights but quickly returned to her normal, confident self.  
'It's nothing Professor, what you most likely heard was my heart, bursting from your exciting narration, please, continue'  
Professor Port didn't think a lot about it, chuckled and continued explaining why Grimm spiders were so uncommon in Vale but so abundant in Vacuo and how he smashed thousands of them armed just with one piece of newspaper and his boots.

Yang picked up her Sunglasses from the floor, snorted and leaned backwards, smiling at no one in particular.  
 _Pfft, no big deal.  
_  
'Yang?'  
'Yes Ruby?'  
'There aren't any Grimm spiders in Patch, right?'  
'No Ruby'  
Ruby visibly relaxed, took a deep breath and slumped in her seat.

Weiss was perplexed. Was Ruby actually _paying attention_?

'Weiss, could I have one of your red pencils?'  
Weiss, still enthralled by the rare occurrence unfolding in front of her, simply nodded and complied.  
The rare occurrence being Ruby having paid any attention to class at all.

After just a couple of minutes, Weiss shook her head. It was too good to last for long.  
Ruby was quite amused, sketching one of Port's various adventures. Like every week.

Some time later, Ruby held the drawing in front of Weiss.  
It depicted a smug looking Professor Port smashing the Grimm spiders while he _only_ sported the newspaper and his boots. _Nothing else._  
She then noticed Ruby had coloured the Professor's bum in a bright red.  
 _My precious pencil, defiled by this little monster, disgraced and misused to paint...this...rather accomplished cheeky sketch. Cheek-y._ She looked at Peter Port's drawn buttocks.

Weiss almost snorted but managed to contain her laughter.  
'Ruby, for the love of...'  
A rather loud ringing noise interrupted her. It was her own clock.  
The class was over.  
 _Freedom._

Ruby stretched her limbs. No matter how much she had swung her feet, she still felt a crawling sensation in her boots.  
But the class was over now. _No more spiders! Yay.  
_ And now they could go and watch the initiation. _I hope Owen is alright._

Jaune slowly raised his head and didn't bother to hide the goofy smile on his face. _It is over._ Finally. _**Friday.**_  
His hand was aching. He was sure he had burned spots on his notebook while taking notes.  
 _And I guess we could pay Owen a visit if the others are up to it. We kinda promised.  
_  
'So, Jaune, what are guys doing after class?'

'I guess we will go and watch Owen. Are you coming?'

'Of course, I promised'

'No Ruby, you didn't actually promise' Weiss clarified with a smile. 'But I guess we are going anyway. Let us change into our...'  
' _Combat Skirts!_ ''  
'...Yes. We don't want our uniforms to get dirty in the forest'

'I don't think we will need...' Blake meant to interject, but Weiss was quick to remind her of why she  
suggested it in the first place.  
'Blake, you know how excursions with Ruby usually go, right?'  
'...Y...you...are right'

After changing clothes and stowing their school books away, both teams met at the cliffs an hour later like they had agreed upon.

The leaders waved at eachother.  
'Hey Ruby'  
'Hey Jaune'  
'You brought your weapons too?'  
This time, it was Yang who answered instead of Ruby. 'Just the bare basics for an any outdoor activity with Family Rose-Xiao-Long'

After Yang had explained that Ruby always liked to be prepared in the forest,  
Ruby grinned awkwardly. 'Port was babbling way more than usual today. Maybe we can put some of his teachings...' Ruby snored loudly, '...into action'. She finished purposely patting Crescent Rose for emphasis.  
Stretching the legs sounded like a good idea.

'Yeah, I think I really fell asleep after I knocked myself out' Jaune smiled at Ruby until he noticed Blake was frowning.  
He inquired 'What is it, Blake?'  
Blake asked the question people with any kind of attention span would have on their minds.  
'... _Where is everybody_?'

Neither the headmaster nor Glynda were to be found.  
To break the silence and to provide a possible answer the questioning looks on some faces, Weiss remarked 'It seems to be a very rare occurrence , but if I recall correctly, there was a rumor that in some special cases the teachers would go to the initiation area and gather the newcomers themselves, instead of waiting for them here'

'Then let's go find them' Yang and Nora exclaimed simultaneously, readying their weapons.  
Team RWBY was about to descend into the forest until Pyrrha held an arm up, signalling for their attention.

They turned to Pyrrha and looked to the clearing in the woods she was pointing to.  
From their position, they could spot two persons sparring.

Pyrrha unfolded Miló into its rifle form and looked through the ironsight.  
'Wow, Yang is that your dad? He is _really_ fast. He seems to be fighting with Owen and taking him apart'

Both Ruby and Yang perked up, exclaiming 'Dad!?' at the same time and while they seemed like they would have wrestled for Pyrrha's rifle,it wasn't really of any use to them.  
Jaune didn't know why, but Pyrrha always observed distant fights with its ironsights even if it didn't have a real scope.  
 _Maybe she just wants to be prepared for anything._

Ren, who had anticipated the sisters' reaction as soon he heard their dad was mentioned, took out a binocular out of a pouch.  
He unscrewed a pin and separated both scopes and offered both pieces to the particular sisters.

Ruby and Yang blushed at their previous outburst and took the offer without uttering a word, just nodding their thanks to Ren, who in return just smiled politely.

'Oh, Owen is taking a beating' Yang exclaimed.

Ruby snickered 'Almost as bad as when you broke our sink out of rage, Yang'

'My hair had broken tips!, I was 13, it was the end of the world for me. You wouldn't understand, you always cut your hair short'  
'At least you grew up somewhat after that' Ruby rolled her eyes, grinning at the memories.

'Hehe, I just wanted to fight pops but he wisely decided to stop and ground me' Yang explained.  
 _He was probably running out of options when he realized he couldn't keep up_ , she thought, a satisfied smile on her face.

'Ow, I hope dad leaves this guy in one piece, I still wanted to see his weap... _oh_...nice... _OH...awesome..._ '  
Jaune was curious on what could have excited Ruby that much 'Ruby, what happened?  
 _Probably a weapon_ , he pondered.

'Owen somehow unfolded a sword out of the palm of his hand. Dust, it's beautiful' Ruby blurted out, not able to hide her passion for weapons.

 _Knew it!_ Jaune smiled and shook his head at Ruby's predictability.  
Pyrrha chuckled at the antics of her petite friend as well.

Jaune realized Owen hadn't shown them any of his weapons yet.  
 _Well I saw his suitcase_ , he pondered.  
Jaune was happy there would be someone who fought similarly to him.  
 _Finally another swordbearer. Maybe I can learn some new moves._

'He is _swinging it_ at pops. _Ow_.'  
'I have to clarify, he is swinging his sword at dad'  
Blake took back her hand which had just connected with Yang's head. 'Not improving'

'Ruby, let me see' Weiss meant to grab Ruby's scope but Yang was quick to assist her.  
'Weiss, I'm pretty sure I've seen one of those in your pouch'

Weiss' froze, nodded and took out a monocle with magnifying glass out of her side pouch.  
Purple eyes glanced to the side and saw the a small tint on the heiress' cheeks, who awkwardly took her monocle to the eye.  
Yang silently grinned and returned to watch the fight.

Weiss hated that particular magnifying glass and the memories that came with it.  
It had the Schnee Coat of Arms imprinted on the side.  
Thrilled by the unfolding fight, she neglected her hate towards the little piece of gear as she watched intently.

Shortly afterwards, Blake spoke up 'I have to say, this guy Owen tries really hard to keep up with your dad, even if quite clear he has no real chance against him'  
Yang wondered how Blake had spotted that with the naked eye, her thoughts interrupted by Nora who was just beaming at her.  
'When your dad is done with Owen, may I go hunting with him? He is sooo cool, pleeeeease?'

Ren just looked at Nora and warned her with a simple yet powerful word.  
The only one that worked.  
' _Nora_ '

Nora pouted for the upteenth time that day.  
Crossing her arms, she decided that she would go hunting with Ruby's dad, no matter what.

'Shit, Owen is done for ...wait... _whoa_ '  
Ruby lowered her glass but took it again in the eye, not quite sure of what she was seeing.  
Yang was silent as well.

For a short moment, Nora was worried if the sisters were broken until she realized there was no actual reason for that.

Pyrrha spoke out loud for the sake of the others, as the sisters were still taken aback by the sight.  
'He hit Mr. Xiao-Long in the head and brought him down. At least it didn't seem like a hard hit.  
Owen is giving him a hand and Mr. Xiao-Long is conceding defeat.

The match is over'

Ruby was quite astonished, she had never seen someone bring her father to the ground so quickly or his father giving up.  
Granted, they didn't watch the whole fight, but they couldn't have been fighting for so long.

'Wait, why are they fighting in the first place?' Jaune asked in the round.

'I guess Oz-man wanted to give this guy a special sort of entrance exam kinda initiation, not as fancy as ours but maybe just as hardcore?'

'Oz-man, Yang, really?' Weiss made a face of disgust. Some puns were just bad.

Yang simply ignored Weiss and pointed with both arms at the glade 'But bringing in pops is really overkill'

At her side, Ruby's eyes widened and she lowered the scope in her hand. '...Qrow?'

Yang noted how her sister stiffened. _What? Qrow is here?_  
'Wait...Ruby?'  
Before Yang could even make a step towards Ruby, the petite girl had disappeared in a twister of red petals.  
'Ruby, wait!'  
'Ughn I hate it when she does that' Weiss quipped and propelled herself and her other classmates forward with a glyph.  
Her classmates quickly transitioned into a full run, glad for the momentum Weiss had given them.  
They were close behind Ruby but they were losing ground quickly.

'I wish I had brought Bumblebee with me, it's quite a task to keep up with my sis' Yang shouted between gulps for air.  
'You don't say' Weiss was maintaining her momentum using glyphs but she knew she would have to resort to running soon.

Ruby was getting away, despite everyone's effort to keep up.  
At some point, Yang and Weiss had fallen behind Pyrra and Blake, who were now leading the chase thanks to their stamina and yet unbeknownst to the group, Blake's faunus heritage.

Ren was keeping up until he noticed Nora was lagging behind and he decided to slow down to run on her side.

Yang and Weiss were running alongside of Jaune, who had managed to catch up with the group, surprising both girls.  
He tried to say something a few times but his breath was failing.  
'Who is this Qrow again? I keep hearing that name'

'He is our uncle, Ruby adores him but we have barely seen him lately'  
Jaune simply nodded, trying to maintain the pace.

Turning on a corner, Blake and Pyrrha stopped abruptly on the spot, barely avoiding a head-on collision with an unperturbed Ozpin and a startled Glynda.

'Hey Ozpin, did you see a red twister flying past here? Yang asked nonchalantly after slowing down and catching her breath.

'Miss Xiao-Long, why doesn't this surprise me. Sneaking out of Beacon this late to wreak havoc in the woods?' Miss Goodwitch glared at her.

Yang knew the risk, but she enjoyed making Glynda angry simply too much to care.  
 _I can't get detention for this._  
She grinned. 'Yup'

Ozpin slowly turned around and observed the rest of the group arrive.

Ren quickly defused the situation, nodding to the teachers 'Good evening, Miss Goodwitch, Headmaster' while he pressed a finger over Nora's lips.  
The pout in her face was evident but she kept quiet. She had learnt that Ren always had a good reason when he did that.

Ozpin greeted them 'Good evening team JNPR, team RWBY' and turned around to face Miss Goodwitch.  
The Headmaster tried reasoning with her.  
'Well, it seems both teams share our enthusiasm to learn the outcome Glynda, why don't we let them take the lead?'  
Glynda's own opinion in the matter could be easily read from her frown but she conceded at last.

Ozpin had always something in mind when he intervened or went against her wishes.  
Letting the students take the lead would mean they could observe up close how the teams interacted and how their dynamics had changed after a whole semester.  
Glynda sighed and she motioned for their impromptu fellowship to guide them to the others.

Pyrrha noticed a couple of red petals dissolving on the ground. 'Ruby must be near' she whispered to Blake.  
'Why are we whispering?' Blake asked in return.  
 _Good question_ 'I...well this is deep into the forest, we wouldn't like to attract more Grimm than necessary, right?'  
'Hm hm, I guess you are right' Blake conceded.  
Pyrrha smiled. Despite everything, Port had taught them well, a couple of ill advices regarding their amorous lives aside.

For just one small moment she was just Blake, the Beacon Student and not Blake, the White Fang ninja Adam had intended her to be, her usual attentiveness during battle forgotten while running, probably due the silliness of the situation.  
Pyrrha's reasoning was sound, why didn't she think of it?

Something broke her reverie. Blake's bow twitched. She had heard something not far away.  
While Listening closely to the sounds of the forest, Blake was painfully reminded of the fact that there were others who weren't as stealthy and quiet.

Yang and Nora were crushing down some trees to open a path. They came to a clearing and found Ruby.  
But something wasn't right.  
'It seems you jinxed it, P-Money'  
Pyrrha turned her head and was about to ask what that nickname was supposed to mean when Yang's serious expression made her turn around and gaze to Ruby's direction.

Ruby had Crescent Rose fully extended in her hand and was facing at least half a dozen beowolves.

'Why Beowolves, why are they always Beowolves?' Jaune overheard Ruby as she prepared herself for battle.

'Ruby', Weiss came running into the clearing and used one of her glyphs to propel herself instantly to Ruby's side,  
ready to assist her partner.  
The others were quick to arrive and positioned themselves at Ruby's and Weiss' flanks, facing the beasts.

* * *

'So... what are we waiting for?' Owen asked the two hunters in front of him.

'Oz wanted to meet us here' Qrow stated as he leant on a tree.

'So...you both are partners?'

Taiyang was sitting on top of a log when he unexpectedly jumped in place and growled at Qrow 'Don't even think of it, Qrow!'

'I haven't even said anything yet' Qrow simply tried shrugging off whatever Taiyang was implying.

Taiyang tilted his head slightly, raising a brow and pointing to his partner with an accusatory finger  
'But you were about to...'

Owen was completely at a loss at their obvious inside joke.

'Anyway, yeah, well, we were partners in the past and we still do some missions sometimes, but we have different schedules'  
At one of Qrow's glances, he quickly added '...for the school, of course, we are both teachers at Signal'

Owen smiled at their antics but his smile faded at an odd sight.  
He cleared his throat 'Ahm guys, I know you said you wanted to wait here for Ozpin but...'  
'...Yes. Why?' Taiyang raised a brow until Owen pointed to the forest and spoke up.  
'Those there are clearly Beowolves and that there is definitely Ruby'

At her name, both hunters turned their heads to the direction Owen was pointing at and sprinted wordlessly into the fray.  
'Hey, wait!' When he noticed both wouldn't slow down or stop their dash, Owen simply ran as fast as he could, diminishing the distance to the two experienced fighters.

While running towards the danger, Qrow teased Taiyang 'You should get real weapons, old man'

'Stop it, _Bran_ , I'm just a few days older than you and you are the one getting grey hair.  
Besides, I don't need much more than those' Taiyang shook his fists for emphasis.

'Duck!' Someone shouted.

Both hunters instinctively dodged whatever was coming their way, skidding on the ground.

Nora had sent the corpse of a headless Beowulf crashing in their way.  
They had avoided the heavy beast and its claws by mere hair breadths.

Taiyang looked at Qrow, who shrugged and grinned.  
Both thought the same.  
 _We are getting old._

'Hello handsome', Nora blowed a kiss in their direction and turned around to smash another Beowulf, the evil beast unaware of the hell she would unleash on it.

Yang shook her head and rolled her eyes, it was always the same.  
Whenever their dad and their uncle appeared, all girls tried to impress them.

Ruby saw her friends and family come in her aid.  
She was touched by the noble gesture and she felt grateful for the people watching her back.  
It still annoyed her a bit they would think she wasn't up to the challenge.  
 _She wasn't a little girl. Not anymore._  
 **So she charged.**  
And everyone with her.

A big dark patch of fur moved. It groaned. Then it shouted. _Or rather a shout came from it._  
'Would someone please take this off me, I can't breath' Owen called from below a peculiar Beowulf. The beast lacked a head.  
The corpse had hit him like a freight train, he hadn't managed to react in time when he noticed his new acquaintances ducking away.  
Jaune ran to his side and pulled him out from below the beast, smiling at the scene and patting Owen's back in sympathy.  
'Thanks'  
'Not at all, Owen. Come on, I think they could make use of our _talents_ '  
'Haha, don't make it sound that bad. We aren't that bad, are we?'  
'No, Owen, I meant it, while we aren't as deadly as some of our peers, we can deal a good amount of damage by ourselves'  
Owen nodded and followed the tall blonde into the battle.  
'Let us just watch their backs, don't let them get flanked' Jaune shouted over his shoulder.  
 _Perhaps Jaune isn't useless as a leader,_ Owen thought.

Glynda and Ozpin gently strolled through the trees into the clearing when they saw the fight unfolding in front of them.  
She meant to take her riding crop out of its holster and intervene, but Ozpin shook his head, gesturing to the two professional hunters in the crowd.

 _They will manage just fine._ Ozpin had a way to say a lot with his eyes.

Glynda let out a short sigh. Sometimes she wished one of the beasts would crush that drunkard Qrow and send him to retirement but he was simply too good at what he did or rather too stubborn to die.  
She didn't exactly hate him, she just would like to strangle him sometimes.  
 _No._ _ **Most of the time**_ _._

But she agreed with Ozpin. Taiyang was with the students, they would manage to defeat the Grimm.  
No need for them to intervene.  
At least, until a giant underground Grimm came out of the woods, rushing to the gathered crowd.  
It was the giant beast Owen had seen previously underground.  
Ozpin nodded mostly to himself and prepared for combat, as Glynda was already on the move.

* * *

The teams had returned to Beacon and were checking their gear and dusting off their attires in the locker room.

'Man, I think I have beowulf hairs even in the back of my throat.' Jaune complained.

'Don't be silly Jauney, Grimm remains disappear quickly' Nora interjected while inspecting Magnhild for hairs,

disregarding what she had told Jaune.

'...Unless they have killed recently, Nora' Blake frowned, recalling lessons of unhappier times.

'What?' Jaune eyes widened.  
'Whenever Grimm had killed recently, I noticed their remains wouldn't disappear instantaneously.  
'But then how did those...? _Oh..._ ' Jaune realized what that implied.  
'I... I've heard some criminals send people to the forest to get rid of them, but I hadn't believed it until now' Blake remained motionless. Something from the past came to her memory.  
'That is so sick and wrong' One could see the disgust marked in Jaune's face from the distance.

'I know' Blake's mind went to a dark place, from where she had escaped once.

Blake had heard of it. They wouldn't just send them to the forest.  
They would leave them there, unarmed, beaten up, desperate.  
All of this would only incite the Grimm more and more and guide them directly to their victims.  
Even more so if those victims were chained, _like animals_.  
Blake felt revulsion at her core.  
She had seen a fair amount of atrocities and violence for her age, but more than infuriated, those thoughts made her feel nauseous.  
She shook the feeling away and continued cleaning Gambol Shroud.

A few locker rows further, the conversation was of a more cheerful tone in comparison.

'Man, that ride back to the school was quite cramped' Owen complained.

'I guess Ozpin can be lazy sometimes too' Ruby scrubbed her Scythe and looked for any smudges on the polished surface of the blade.

'Sure but look at the time, I wouldn't want to walk back for an hour' Yang stretched her arms in the air, smiling good-naturedly.

'Me neither' Owen agreed, now painfully aware of the soreness of his muscles.

'Perhaps he arranged the transport because he thought you would be exhausted, Owen' Weiss pointed out.

'I guess you are right, Weiss. But he certainly didn't count with all of you coming along' Owen thought aloud and he couldn't hide the satisfied grin on his face.

'Nope, he didn't!' Ruby exclaimed  
She then turned around and then whispered "Sweet dreams" into her personal compartment.  
Ruby patted Crescent Rose, as if she was putting a baby to sleep and closed the metallic lid of her locker.

Walking back to the building where the sleeping accommodations were, Owen turned around to Ruby and Yang while he rubbed his arm.

'Say, was that your pops? He hits hard' His mouth broke into a sheepish half smile with one side of his lips curled up, as Owen admitted it.

Ruby nodded with enthusiasm while a knowing, teasing smirk appeared on Yang's lips.  
'You better behave, _cheesecake_ , you don't want us to snitch, do ya?'

Owen visibly gulped until Yang broke into laughter, Ruby joining her.  
'You should have seen the look on your face, oh man' Yang wiped off a tear and waved at them when she went into their room.  
 _I'm done for with these girls.  
_ Owen shook his head smiling, knowing the teasing nature of Yang.  
'Don't worry, if Yang causes you trouble, I can talk with dad' Ruby patted him in the back and tried to lift his spirits.  
'Thanks Ruby, I know she is just teasing me'  
'Yeah, she does that a lot' Ruby grinned and looked at the place her sister had just stood at.  
'But that is just her way to show you she respects you. _I think_ '  
'I can live with that, I guess.'  
'Good night, Owen' Ruby hugged him, surprising him for a moment until he hugged her back.  
'Good night Ruby. See you folks tomorrow' Owen waved at her and entered the room belonging to his team.  
 _My team_. It felt surreal.  
Owen was exhausted but happy.

* * *

Owen unstrapped the pouch in which he carried his _coinsword_ while he closed the door, depositing it on his improvised night stand.

He leant his suitcase against the frame of the couch he used as a bed.  
Owen sat down and unbinded his boots. He was glad he had been wearing his boots that fateful day.  
The boots had been a better choice than plain shoes back then. With the beginning of Autumn there were always some puddles on his daily commute.  
Owen sat on the couch for a moment, reminiscing on his journey to Remnant while he absentmindedly put on some slippers.

 _Back home_...it seemed so far away, like months had already passed but it had only been a few days. Right?

He looked down and saw dirt at the side of the boots. He inspected the muddy soles of them and when he looked up,  
he noticed the smudges of grime coming from the door, he had forgotten to change them before he entered the room.  
 _Pyrrha will kill me if she takes a glance at the floor. I better look for a mop._

To say Owen was startled when his suitcase sprung open would be an understatement, he almost fell off the couch.  
 _...the hell?_

He wanted to look inside it until he noticed a tall amazonian girl slowly coming his way.

 _Is she looking at my suitcase? S_ he is sure curious. _Oh._  
He figured out why Pyrrha wasn't looking very pleased.  
She wasn't looking at his open suitcase, which was a good thing. _Phew..._  
 _Oh shit._ _ **My boots.  
**_ That was most likely even worse for her to notice.

Owen quickly got up and started walking towards the door, avoiding her scrutinizing looks.  
'I will get a mop and clean this mess up, Pyrrha. I just wanted to put on something more comfortable before doing so'

' _Catch!_ '  
Owen followed the voice and barely caught a key Jaune had thrown at him.  
Jaune shrugged and explained to him 'Every team gets one key for the janitor's closet for whenever we need to clean,  
you are lucky I found our key yesterday'

Judging by the look Pyrrha was giving Jaune, it didn't please her either that he had lost the keys.  
Jaune scratched the back of his head and tried to appeal for Pyrrha's sympathy with a nervous grin.  
Pyrrha shook her head and smiled when Jaune wasn't looking.

Owen just smiled at their antics and left the room to fetch the mop.

His suitcase was finally open.  
 _This is good. And bad._ There were many things inside his suitcase that didn't belong to Remnant.  
For some of them, he would have to think of a good excuse if they were found.  
And some other, should be rather not found at all.  
It was his own kind of time machine.

Owen arrived at the janitor's closet and one thought crossed his mind that made him chuckle.

It seemed Taiyang's skull was hard enough to unjam the suitcase, when nothing else in the world would.

'Man, he must have a really thick skull" Owen shook his head and smiled absentmindedly.  
While he didn't think Taiyang was stupid, Stubborn, _maybe_ , his head was definitely made of steel.

Owen twisted the key to the closet, completely unaware of what was about to happen.

* * *

 _If the stars all fall  
_ _when there's no more light  
_ _and the moon should crumble  
_ _it will be alright_

* * *

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A/N:  
1)  
I used the word Zombie, which _should_ have no context in Remnant, but if I had used Zogrimm, Grommbie or something like that, some people might have been confused.  
I would like some feedback on that, because as soon as I find a decent solution, I would rather change it into terms more fitting into the lore.

2)  
Funny enough, a big chunk of this chapter was ready before Chapter 4 was even half done.  
This chapter was the catalyst for wrapping up Chapter 4 .  
It started as a 63-, then 800-word rough concept [around April] and expanded to monstrous proportions.  
It could have been split in two, but I felt that would be rather dull and it would feel like a lame an excuse for a cliffhanger.

3)  
Blake's "Do you mind if I finish this Chapter" could be applied to this one crappy writer as well xD  
I hope the next chapter needs less than 2 months to be published. My life has been a little chaotic the past half year.  
3.1)  
Many things have hindered my actual writing, I'm mostly writing at night, half asleep and I'm procastinating writing author notes now (like this one).  
3.2)  
Tell Shavranekto to stop hindering my progress showing funny vids to me.

4) I am sorry this chapter took so long, but I wanted to work on characterization without limiting the later developments.

Many thanks to my Betas ViridiHarmonia64 and Shavranekto for their input and support!

ps: Just realized this morning that FF deleted my fixed chapters 1-3 which I hadn't updated yet. _Hallelujah!  
_ So I will have to rework those _again._

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